Hillary Jordan

Hillary Jordan received her BA in English and Political Science from Wellesley College and spent fifteen years working as an advertising copywriter before starting to write fiction. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.

Her latest novel is When She Woke.

From Jordan's Q & A with Jennifer Haupt:

JH: Hannah [the protagonist of When She Woke] is a woman struggling with her own faith as well as the religious values of her culture. What/who was the inspiration for this character?

HJ: Hester Prynne, in part; but Hester's stigmatization by society doesn't cause her to lose or redefine her faith, whereas Hannah's does. I wanted to create a character with as wide an arc as possible, a sheltered, obedient young woman who endures trials so harrowing that they change her utterly and cause her to question everything she has been taught to believe.

JH: Has your own faith been tested in writing this novel? What was the most challenging aspect of developing this story?

HJ: As always, the biggest challenge was inhabiting characters very different from myself. Hannah and her family are evangelical Christians; I'm something else I don't have a name for that involves asking a lot of questions and searching for the divine spark--of compassion, of beauty, of transcendence-within myself and others. Hannah believes that abortion is a crime and an abomination; I believe it's a necessary resort for some women given the society we live in, and that it should be legal, rare and left to each individual to decide for herself. I tried very hard to represent the beliefs of Hannah and her family without...[read on]

Learn more about the author and her work at Hillary Jordan's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Mudbound.

My Book, The Movie: Mudbound.

The Page 69 Test: When She Woke.

My Book, The Movie: When She Woke.

--Marshal Zeringue