A Well-Trained Wife: My Escape from Christian Patriarchy
Aug 2024 · Sold by St. Martin's Press
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About this ebook
The instant New York Times bestseller:
“Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn’t a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me.”
Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles––a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.”
Tia knew that to their neighbors her family was strange, but she also couldn't risk exposing their secret lifestyle to police, doctors, teachers, or anyone outside of their church. Christians were called in scripture to be “in the world, not of it.” So, she hid in plain sight as years of abuse and pain followed. When Tia realized she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women, she began to resist and question how they lived. But in the patriarchy, a woman with opinions is in danger, and eventually, Tia faced an urgent and extreme choice: stay and face dire consequences, or flee with her children.
Told in a beautiful, honest, and sometimes harrowing voice, A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable and timely memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.
“Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn’t a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me.”
Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles––a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.”
Tia knew that to their neighbors her family was strange, but she also couldn't risk exposing their secret lifestyle to police, doctors, teachers, or anyone outside of their church. Christians were called in scripture to be “in the world, not of it.” So, she hid in plain sight as years of abuse and pain followed. When Tia realized she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women, she began to resist and question how they lived. But in the patriarchy, a woman with opinions is in danger, and eventually, Tia faced an urgent and extreme choice: stay and face dire consequences, or flee with her children.
Told in a beautiful, honest, and sometimes harrowing voice, A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable and timely memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.
The instant New York Times bestseller:
“Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn’t a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me.”
Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant ...
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Ratings and reviews
14 reviews
Dorethea
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October 12, 2026
wr haf ecoeriebcex wonen abd mrn as wrllnin vattered sgehtersvtgag wrre bekeivef to safe sbf secure ttom a hoopinanx holerin ad nama and dadfues withll they drama ad wrl ad jealiys cyzzuzad as dyupud 3 brotvwt and a wejeog susteg ir, syupudaz gell shittalju vas britgets ans hóxuad lookibc cyzztjag arw still oerverys ad wrl.letting pky victims in abyse xadez they.arell.aoary lije,wge. qaxnsll i. frankgurh yl nutnbetg snd kutxengem fetnsnybto wgete evtythsng lookz alittke fiffer butvtwhvth sf fi
Julia Geiser
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October 20, 2024
Read this book. Your heart that's been bruised by rigid rules meant to keep women small will revel in the story.
Erin Wright
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September 9, 2026
struggled to get into this
About the author
Tia Levings writes about the realities in Christian fundamentalism, evangelical patriarchy, and religious trauma. She is also a podcaster, speaker, and content strategist. She’s been quoted in Salon, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek, and appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People. Based in Jacksonville, Florida she is mom to four incredible adults and likes to travel, hike, paint, and daydream. Her memoir, A Well-Trained Wife, is her first book.
Tia Levings writes about the realities in Christian fundamentalism, evangelical patriarchy, and religious trauma. She is also a podcaster, speaker, and content strategist. She’s been quoted in Salon, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek, and appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People...
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