The Woman They Wanted

An accounting of the emotional roller coaster that was becoming a Christian as a young adult, marrying a young Christian celebrity who was groomed to take over a problematic church, being forced to give up her dreams and agency as she loses herself in patriarchal ideals… then slowly finds her way out after 16 years.

While this tells some stories and the facts of things that happened, it’s more about what the entire journey felt like for her. I’d recommend this book to women who have trouble hearing their own voice or trusting themselves and their intuition, who need to know they are people too and deserve to have needs, particularly those who had or have religious backgrounds. She gets straight to the heart of some of the toxic expectations and consequences of living inside the American church.