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A Memoir
by Glennon Doyle Melton
Book Reviewed by:The highly anticipated new memoir by bestselling author Glennon Doyle Melton tells the story of her journey of self-discovery after the implosion of her marriage.
A 2016 Oprah Bookclub Selection
Just when Glennon Doyle Melton was beginning to feel she had it all figured out - three happy children, a doting spouse, and a writing career so successful that her first book catapulted to the top of the New York Times bestseller list - her husband revealed his infidelity and she was forced to realize that nothing was as it seemed. A recovering alcoholic and bulimic, Glennon found that rock bottom was a familiar place. In the midst of crisis, she knew to hold on to what she discovered in recovery: that her deepest pain has always held within it an invitation to a richer life.
Love Warrior is the story of one marriage, but it is also the story of the healing that is possible for any of us when we refuse to settle for good enough and begin to face pain and love head-on. This astonishing memoir reveals how our ideals of masculinity and femininity can make it impossible for a man and a woman to truly know one another - and it captures the beauty that unfolds when one couple commits to unlearning everything they've been taught so that they can finally, after thirteen years of marriage, commit to living true - true to themselves and to each other.
Love Warrior is a gorgeous and inspiring account of how we are born to be warriors: strong, powerful, and brave; able to confront the pain and claim the love that exists for us all. This chronicle of a beautiful, brutal journey speaks to anyone who yearns for deeper, truer relationships and a more abundant, authentic life.
Prelude
It's almost time. My father and I stand at the edge of a long white carpet, laid just this morning over the freshly cut grass. Craig's childhood backyard is transformed by the start of fall and the promise this day holds. My shoulders are bare and I feel a chill, so I lift my face toward the sun. I squint and the sun, leaves, and sky melt together into a kaleidoscope of blue, green, and orange. The leaves, my soon-to-be husband, our families sitting upright in their dressiest clothes, and I—we are all turning into something else. We are becoming new. It's a becoming day.
We wait for the music to play so we can begin the short, forever walk toward Craig. I watch him, standing at the end of the carpet looking handsome, young, and nervous. He adjusts his tie, clasps his hands in front of him, then pushes them into his pockets. After a moment he pulls his hands back out, pressing them to his sides like a soldier. He looks untethered, and I wish I could go ...
Although I have nothing in common with Melton and do not share her spirituality, the memoir still gave me pause, urging me to undertake my own journey of growth and self-discovery. Melton's writing is so raw and vibrant that I was touched by her frankness and could relate to her, even though we're at very different places in our lives. Despite having experienced very few of Melton's challenges, I was unexpectedly moved by her victories...continued
Full Review
(682 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Brené Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Rising Strong and Daring Greatly
This is a book about what it means to be human--to wrestle with love, hurt, addiction, vulnerability, intimacy, and grace. Love Warrior blew me away. We can all find pieces of our own stories reflected in Glennon's powerful words. We are so lucky to have her courage and wisdom in the world. We need this kind of truth telling if we are ever going to find our way back to each other. Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Big Magic and Eat Pray Love
"Love Warrior reaches a depth of truth and power and emotional gravity that is rarely seen in the world, and even more rarely spoken aloud. Glennon's story about the resurrection of her marriage (a tale of a woman daring to come into her body, and a man daring to come into his mind, and the two of them daring--with outrageous courage--to trust each other) is something beyond merely inspirational; it is epic. I think of this book as the vital, long-overdue, much-needed sister memoir to Eat Pray Love. Glennon lifts the roof off her whole house--her whole life--and examines everything, right out in the open. She has, indeed, become a Love Warrior. This book is an act of love and truth and generosity; it will change lives. Marianne Williamson, New York Times bestselling author of A Return to Love
This elegant, moving memoir is about one woman's marriage but also much more than that. Glennon writes about a hunger for love that all of us feel and the only food that ultimately feeds us. She understands the unique relationship between spiritual and romantic love, and in finding one, she masters the other. Truly a wonderful book. Oprah Winfrey
A testament to the power of vulnerability. Glennon shows us the clearest meaning of 'To thine own self be true.' It's as if she reached into her heart, captured the raw emotions there, and translated them into words that anyone who's ever known pain or shame--in other words, every human on the planet--can relate to. She's bravely put everything on the table for the whole world to see Rob Bell, New York Times bestselling author of Love Wins
How can I do justice to this book? Moving and brilliant and funny and shocking and heartbreaking and inspiring, Love Warrior raises provocative questions about just what is possible for a person, a marriage, a family, a life. At the heart of this story is the insistence that we don't have to settle--we can explore our shadows, and we're not just going to survive it, but we're going to come out the other side a whole new person with new love, new hope, new strength, and maybe even a new marriage. This is a big, stunning, buoyant, honest, raw glimpse into the life of an astonishing woman, but it is also a punch in the face to anyone anywhere who believes that this is just how it is and it's not going to get any better. Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author of Present Over Perfect
When I finished the last page of Love Warrior, I sobbed. I sobbed because I was in awe. Because I didn't want it to end. Because it made me believe more deeply in love, in humanity, in forgiveness, in God, in marriage. Glennon and Craig have invited us so far into the messy, beautiful, difficult insides of their hearts and lives, and what we find there is profoundly inspiring. This is a book that will change lives, change marriages, change the way we think and talk about what love really is.Glennon Doyle Melton, author of Love Warrior, started her writing career in 2009. Badly needing a break one day, the stay-at-home mother of three turned to Facebook, where she noticed several of her friends were participating in a series of posts called "25 Things About Me." She immediately began sharing incredibly honest and personal tidbits about herself: "I'm a recovering food and alcohol addict, but I still find myself missing food and booze in the same twisted way someone can still love a person who beats them and leaves them for dead."
Within hours she got dozens of comments from both friends and strangers offering her words of support and affirmation. She realized that she had struck a chord–that none of her fellow ...
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