KAREN E.B. ELLIOTT
About the Book
In an era which seems to be losing its moral footing, Dr. Karen E. B. Elliott turns to secular literature as a path for soul‑searching. As a seasoned professor, she shows why particular books have mattered to herself and her students over the years, and how each text offers a contemplative, philosophical way toward the true nature of God and the relevance of faith, both personally and collectively.
Drawing from decades in the lecture halls and classrooms, Elliott explores timeless works, revealing how these stories remain startlingly relevant in our technocratic, postmodern world.
Through thoughtful literary analysis and candid personal reflection, Elliott demonstrates that even secular texts can illuminate eternal questions: What does it mean to live well? How do pride and ambition unmake us? Where do we seek identity, freedom, and love? And what happens when we forget God?
Engaging, intellectually rigorous, and spiritually grounded, Finding Your Faith in Literature challenges readers to see literature not as a relic of the past—but as transformative encounters with truth.
Full of moral virtue was [her] speech,
and gladly would [she] learn,
and gladly teach.
from the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Table of Contents
Foreword by Emily Carpenter
Prologue – "Life is a Highway"
Part I · Literature Is Relevant
Seamus Heaney’s Translation of Beowulf — The Most Modern of Ancient Men
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind — A Good Woman Is Hard to Find
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening — In Defense of the Girls’ Weekend
Alan Paton’s Too Late, the Phalarope — Scarlet Letters in the Modern Age
Part II · Literature Is Personal
Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World — It’s RNC in the Twenty-Sixth Century
Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House — ’Tis the Season for March Madness
Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club — Finding Our Invisible Strength
Part III · Literature Is Transformative
Burton Raffel’s Translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight — Chivalry Isn’t Dead
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein — Pride and Privilege
Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn — The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
Epilogue – "Finding Our Purpose in Literature"
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