A review by bookwormmichelle
A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans

5.0

I was expecting this to be a female take on A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically. And in some ways, it was. Evans took a year, breaking down months into different themes, to examine what exactly "biblical womanhood" means. This was laugh out loud funny at times, like Jacobs. She included the New Testament as well, however. And she had more of an agenda coming in---I suspect she WANTED to find, and did, that evangelical limits on what women can do are not necessarily "biblical" or the ONLY way to be a "biblical woman." But even so, I love the open-heartedness of this book. It's true that Evans seemed to have some biases when she started out--there were a few snarky comments about stay at home moms, seems to think fundamentalist polygamous sects are "Mormons" and at one point she wails that she looks like a homeschooler. But her largeness of spirit shows as she begins encountering different women and different ways to experience being a "biblical woman." She strikes up a friendship with an Orthodox Jew; visits an Amish woman; spends a contemplative weekened in a Catholic monastery, travels to Bolivia to meet women and families who have been helped by charitable programs; examines what it means to buy and eat responsibly, and she takes good and learns from every step, it seems. I didn't always agree with ALL her conclusions at the end, but I almost stood up and cheered, as she detailed what she learned about real biblical women, and what their experiences mean for us today; as she and her husband reflected on leadership and marriage, as she does a traditional Jewish ceremony at the end (during the high holy days) where she scattered bread pieces as she detailed her sins over the last year and asked for forgiveness (and forgave herself.) This book is enough to make one want to stand up and link arms with daughters of God all over the world and recognize our accomplishments and gifts. Perhaps she and I would even find a lot of common ground ourselves, although I am a Mormon, (mostly) stay at home homeschooling mom. Eshet chayil, indeed.