This is a coming of rage story: the best-selling author of Fed Up deconstructs her evangelical upbringing and shows how women’s anger can lead us towards change
Whether or not you’ve ever set foot in a church, Christian patriarchal norms have shaped American culture in ways that are far-reaching and insidious. From restrictive legislation that takes away women’s bodily autonomy and makes life as a working parent nearly impossible, to cultural norms that expect women to pick up after their husbands and joyfully give up their careers to care for children—these are all standards informed and fed by Christian culture.
Gemma Hartley grew up in an evangelical household where she was raised to become an obedient wife from the time she was a little girl. At summer camp as a 12 year old, she was encouraged to channel any emerging sexual desire into letters to her unknown future husband—god forbid she ever learn about sex before meeting him. She married her high school sweetheart at 20, and had 3 children before she turned 30.
Weaving the threads of her Christian upbringing together with a feminist examination of society today, Hartley tells her personal story, but it’s bigger than that: No One Loves an Angry Woman is the story of a cultural awakening.
“Gemma Hartley’s account of unlearning fear, questioning faith, walking away from white patriarchy, and finding freedom on the other side is searing and compelling. Both personal memoir and cultural critique, this book is a courageous example of walking out of the only story you’ve ever been told and, an act of generosity, writing your own.”
—Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her and The Resilience Myth
“Gemma Hartley has written a memoir that is at once a feminist manifesto and a love letter to her younger self. Not only is this book packed with mic-drop wisdom; its gorgeous prose will demand to be read, reread, and read again. Each essay acts as a North Star to deftly guide the reader through the life of the book’s titular ‘angry woman.’ But what Hartley does by the end is utterly brilliant—not only will you fall in love with this ‘unlovable angry woman’; you will admire her, you will respect her, and you will applaud her.”
—Reema Zaman, author of I Am Yours
“A brave, bold, timely, and intimate exploration of how Christian patriarchy harms girls and women. No One Loves an Angry Woman probes the intricate process by which our emotions become gendered and constrained as we grow up, as well as the complicated work women must do to save themselves from worldviews that don’t perceive them as fully human and to find their own voices amid so much clamoring about who and what women should be. The honesty and rigor of this book is a gift.”
—Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out