Brilliant. Rachel Held Evans has made it easy for me to decide what I am going to buy all my family and friends for their birthdays this year. All the way through the book I was thinking 'I must buy this for my Mum', 'this friend would LOVE reading this', 'I've got show this to so and so', etc. The book is funny - hilarious at times - but also poignant, challenging and theologically astute. It manages to entertain and keep you gripped the whole way through, whilst making important points in subtle yet powerful ways about gender equality and 'Biblical Womanhood'.
The premise is straightforward: to spend a year trying to obey all the biblical commands for women in the Bible. It leads her into a great adventure of meeting some interesting (and at times very odd) people, covering her head to pray, calling her husband 'master', staying in a monastery and much more. I loved it. I don't want to write to much about it so as not to spoil the fun for you. And it's not all about the story. The story is just a vehicle for teaching some deep truths in a winsome and easy-to-read manner.
Just one quote for you from this book, I loved this:
'Too many Easter services begin with a man standing before a congregation of Christians and shouting "He is risen!" to a chorused response of "He is risen indeed!" Were we to honour the symbolic details of the text, that distinction would always belong to a woman'.
I have noticed that the author has taken some serious stick from people in the US over this book and the whole project. This is a real shame as we all have lots to learn from her discoveries, whether or not you agree with all her conclusions. Please buy this book, then buy it for everyone you know.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/year-biblical-womanhood-Rachel-Evans/dp/1595553673/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363556562&sr=8-1-spell
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