Four books that changed Elizabeth J. Church

Elizabeth J. Church is the author of the novels The Atomic Weight of Love and All the Beautiful Girls. One of four books that changed the author, as shared at the Sydney Morning Herald:

JUDE THE OBSCURE
Thomas Hardy

I love a good rebel, and Hardy was that sort of brave writer. He espoused unpopular positions and courageously challenged long-held traditions and institutions. What fascinates me still is Hardy's modern sensibility, expressed within the confines of Victorian society. I particularly love his recognition of marriage as oppressive to women and his take on the unrealistic nature of marriage vows. Hardy's highly sensitive nature is further apparent when Jude expresses anguish over a pig's pain.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue