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Rift
Rift: A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy | Cait West
4 posts | 5 read | 6 to read
A gripping memoir about coming of age in the stay-at-home daughter movement and the quest to piece together a future on your own terms. Raised in the Christian patriarchy movement, Cait West was homeschooled and could only wear clothes her father deemed modest. She was five years old the first time she was told her swimsuit was too revealing, to go change. There would be no college in her future, no career. She was a stay-at-home daughter and would move out only when her father allowed her to become a wife. She was trained to serve men, and her life would never be her own. Until she escaped. In Rift, Cait West tells a harrowing story of chaos and control hidden beneath the facade of a happy family. Weaving together lyrical meditations on the geology of the places her family lived with her story of spiritual and emotional manipulation as a stay-at-home daughter, Cait creates a stirring portrait of one young womans growing awareness that she is experiencing abuse. With the ground shifting beneath her feet, Cait mustered the courage to break free from all shed ever known and choose a future of her own making. Rift is a story of survival. Its also a story about what happens after you survive. With compassion and clarity, Cait explores the complex legacy of patriarchal religious trauma in her life, including the ways she has also been complicit in systems of oppression. A remarkable literary debut, Rift offers an essential personal perspective on the fraught legacy of purity culture and recent reckonings with abuse in Christian communities.
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Christine
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Another thoughtful addition to the escape-from-Christian-patriarchy memoir canon (generously sent to me by Eerdmans Publishing). And the first one I‘ve read that‘s partially set in Hawaii, which was super interesting! Lots to admire about West‘s writing, and the print book itself is lovely — gorgeous textured cover and surprisingly heavyweight in a pleasant way despite being under 250 pages.

dabbe Gorgeous cover! 🩵💙🩵 4mo
Christine @dabbe It really is, beyond what the photo conveys, even! 4mo
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Centique
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Thank you for putting this on my radar @Megabooks 💕
A thought provoking story of a young woman coming to realise her entrapment in christian patriarchy. Cait‘s father became increasingly controlling as she grew up and more committed to the concept of “stay at home daughters”. If youre interested in how misogyny can thrive within religion this is a fascinating personal account - from entrapment to realisation to dealing with PTSD after leaving.

Cathythoughts Great review 👍🏻 4mo
Centique @Cathythoughts thank you Cathy 💕 4mo
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Megabooks
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Some years topics have several good books published that I‘m fascinated to take a deep dive in. This year, it‘s evangelicalism.

Cait grew up in a home with a father who practiced strict Christian patriarchy. She dealt with emotional abuse and stripped down opportunities because of her gender. This is the story of her childhood and her breaking away from her family and eventually the church.

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Christine
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I‘ve received some really amazing ARCs and bookmail lately. (Now if only I could find the time to read them! 😆) This one‘s at the top of my list! Sounds fantastic, and the book itself is a very lovely object - such a pretty cover and surprisingly heavyweight for its size. Looking forward to starting it soon (and/or seeing reviews of it here)!

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