An empowering story of self-actualization by a former Christian pop star whose life was transformed by reading.
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“In telling her story, Julianna Glasse blazes a trail for every woman who has ever felt oppressed by religion and the patriarchy and muted by other people’s rules and judgment. This is a page-turning, sexy, and eye-popping memoir of liberation. I couldn’t put it down.”—Chelsea Handler, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Life Will Be the Death of Me
“Powerful debut memoir . . . Patient and curious rather than rageful or high-minded, Glasse’s account is a love letter to art, literature, and finding beauty in the world on one’s own terms. It makes for empowering reading.”—Publishers Weekly
“This book is a searing bibliography of self-expression, one book at a time. It’s breathlessly propulsive, with courage mounting on every page. In an era of rising illiteracy, I found myself as a reader alternately lamenting what non-readers miss and cheering for what Julianna found. This book is what happens when women read: they transform into who they were always meant to be. Julianna uses her radiant light to liberate, and I’m so grateful that she persevered in her journey of revolutionary reading.”—Tia Levings, author of The New York Times bestseller A Well-Trained Wife and I Belong to Me
“Women's reading is often dismissed as a hobby or a trivial distraction. But as Glasse's fierce own story and fierce analysis shows, a woman reading can be the most radical act.”—Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her
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At the peak of her fame, Julianna Glasse seemed to have everything she wanted: a successful career as a Christian pop singer and author, a high-profile marriage, and a respected place in the evangelical community that had shaped her understanding of herself and the world. But beneath the surface, questions she could no longer ignore began to challenge everything she had spent decades learning, teaching, and defending.
The books she started to read opened doors she could not shut. The certainties she had inherited over her lifetime no longer felt certain. She came to see how fear had shaped so many of her choices, and how freedom often begins with a question.
In this deeply personal memoir, Julianna writes of her very public and painful split from both the church and her husband—the self-hatred, depression, shame, and suicidal impulses that almost destroyed her; the books she read that inspired her to embrace life as an autonomous, independent woman and pursue her education at the University of Oxford; and, finally, her path to self-discovery and purpose. This Is What Happens When Women Read is for anyone who has outgrown a belief, a relationship, a role, or a version of themselves—and is beginning to imagine what comes next.
© Andrew Zaeh
Julianna Glasse is the founder and CEO of This Is What Happens When Women Read, a global movement advancing women’s intellectual autonomy through education, scholarship, and community. An alumna of the University of Oxford and a member of the Saïd Business School Dean’s Circle, Glasse leads a growing global scholarship initiative in partnership with Oxford that provides women access to one of the world’s leading graduate business programs. She has spoken at global forums including the United Nations, the Skoll World Forum, and the Clinton Global Initiative on women’s leadership and the role of intellectual agency in social transformation. She currently resides in New York City.
For more information, go to https://www.thisiswhathappenswhenwomenread.org.