First published 2012
Rachel Held Evans faces a dilemma. Her evangelical culture preaches traditional gender roles, but the inconsistencies frustrate her. When friends abandon careers to embrace biblical womanhood, she decides on a radical experiment. For twelve months, she will follow every biblical instruction for women to the letter. Evans covers her head with scarves during prayer and calls her husband Dan "master." She holds roadside signs praising him and camps in her yard during menstruation. She adopts a computerized baby, sits on her roof as penance for gossip, and takes up domestic arts like baking and knitting. Her journey takes her from Amish schoolhouses to Bolivian pig farms to monasteries. She interviews polygamists, Quiverfull families, and courtship couples. Through humor and honesty, Evans documents how literal obedience leads to unexpected discoveries about faith, gender, and her relationship with God.
Genres: gender-studies, religion, non-fiction, 21st-century, christianity, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: Amish, Bolivia, Quiverfull
Period: 12 Months
352 pages · ebook · Thomas Nelson