Strong-willed and independent, Rachel Held Evans couldn't sew a button on a blouse before she embarked on a radical life experiment--a year of biblical womanhood. Intrigued by the traditionalist resurgence that led many of her friends to abandon their careers to assume traditional gender roles in the home, Evans decides to try it for herself, vowing to take all of the Bible's instructions for women as literally as possible for a year.

Pursuing a different virtue each month, Evans learns the hard way that her quest for biblical womanhood requires more than a "gentle and quiet spirit" (1 Peter 3:4). It means growing out her hair, making her own clothes, covering her head, obeying her husband, rising before dawn, abstaining from gossip, remaining silent in church, and even camping out in the front yard during her period. With just the right mixture of humor and insight, compassion and incredulity, A Year of Biblical Womanhood is an exercise in scriptural exploration and spiritual contemplation. 

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  • "A Year of Biblical Womanhood is funny, droll, charming, and deadly serious, all in one set of covers."

    -Phyllis Tickle, author and lecturer

  • "A triumph!"

    Ian Morgan Cron, author of Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

  • "Funny and fearless, Rachel Held Evans is twice the woman I'll ever be."

    -Daniel Radosh, writer for The Daily Show, author of Rapture Ready!

  • "With curiosity, honesty, and humor, Rachel Held Evans takes readers along on her year-long adventure in Biblical womanhood that manages to be both hilarious and thought-provoking."

    -Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project



“A bitter-sweet cocktail of wisdom and absurdity that will charm you, entertain you, seduce you and, finally, instruct you! A Year of Biblical Womanhood is funny, droll, charming, and deadly serious, all in one set of covers.”
-Phyllis Tickle, author and lecturer

“A triumph! Rachel Held Evans has written a comprehensive, impeccably researched, heartfelt, whimsical, scripture-honoring book about the role and experience of women in Christian society. This magnificent achievement should be required reading in every church, home, student ministry, college, and seminary in the world. Eshet Chayil!” 
-Ian Morgan Cron, author of Jesus, My Father, the CIA, and Me

"Rachel Held Evans is my kind of woman, Christian, and writer. She cares too much about the Bible to read what it says without wrestling with what it means. Rachel's new book is full of humor, humility, and truth." 
-Glennon Doyle Melton, author of Momastery.com

"Rachel Held Evans is smart and funny and gutsy, willing to tackle the most sacred cows, willing to ask the trickiest questions. For all of us who have found the term "biblical womanhood" somewhere between confusing and crazy-making, her voice is one of intelligence and courage."
-Shauna Niequist, author of Cold Tangerines

“A Year of Biblical Womanhood will instruct as it delights, and delight as it instructs. Of course it's about womanhood, an incredibly important subject for 100% of the population. But it's about a lot more too - how we read and interpret the Bible, for starters, and how we - both men and women - grapple with issues like justice, charity, silence, and grace in today's frenetic world. On top of that, Rachel is such a gifted writer ... you'll be warmed by her good sense, good humor, and keen eye for beauty and insight on every page.”
-Brian D. McLaren, author/speaker/activist

“When Christians allude to “biblical womanhood,” they seem to mean someone safely feminine and clad in floral prints. In her project, Rachel Held Evans uncovers something far more mysterious, a picture by turns glorious and disturbing. Blending laugh-out-loud moments with serious cultural critique, Evans discovers that living the actual teachings of the Bible means surrendering idealized role-playing in favor of becoming an eshet chayil--a woman of strength and wisdom. “
-Jana Riess, author of Flunking Sainthood

"Funny and fearless, Rachel Held Evans is twice the woman I'll ever be." 
-Daniel Radosh, writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and author of Rapture Ready!

“With curiosity, honesty, and humor, Rachel Held Evans takes readers along on her year-long adventure in Biblical womanhood that manages to be both hilarious and thought-provoking.”
-Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

"A Year of Biblical Womanhood is thoughtful, witty, and eye-opening, one of the most important books I've read in a long time. In detailing her "Old Testament" adventure, the always earnest Rachel Held Evans flexes her writing muscle by painting vivid scenes, inspiring prose, and offering well-played opinions doused with persuasive theology. A Year of Biblical Womanhood is a brave book, proving Evans' knack for packing a powerful punch while still managing to remain devout, humble, full of grace."
-Matthew Paul Turner, author of Churched

“Rachel's disarming and inviting sense of storytelling coupled with her sharp wit makes for delightful re-tellings of biblical stories. This peek into her courageous venture into a year of "biblical womanhood" ought to be required reading for all thoughtful evangelicals - male or female - whose response to Scripture is usually an unqualified nod of approval.”
-Jennifer Bird, Associate Professor of Religion, Greensboro College

“A Year of Biblical Womanhood will challenge, amuse, inspire and entertain you. I applaud Rachel’s sharp sense of humor as she attempted the near impossible. I also appreciate her gut-honesty, willingness to try crazy things, and ability to admit when she didn’t have all the answers. A compelling story told brilliantly.”
-Mary DeMuth, author of Everything: What You Gain and What You Give to Become like Jesus

“An unexpected, laugh-out-loud then turn the page and tear up, enjoyable and poignant read. By following Evan’s journey, you’ll see yourself and the women of the Bible in deeper and in nuanced ways.”
-Shayne Moore, author and activist

“Because I first heard Rachel’s voice in reaction to public tomfoolery about women’s roles in the church and society, I half-expected A Year of Biblical Womanhood to be sort of…reactionary. After all, how could a liberated woman covering her head and bowing in reverence to her liberated husband be anything else? Yet with her signature wit, Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood offers a disarming treatment—aka ‘fair and balanced’!—of biblical womanhood. Specifically, readers will be equipped to read the texts more faithfully and to discern what faithfulness looks like for women and men today. Modestly cloaked in starched apron garb, Rachel Held Evans serves a feast to thoughtful men and women who are hungry for insight.”
-Margot Starbuck, author and speaker