“In unbelieve, Marla artfully and bravely gives all of us a front row seat to her own deconstruction while also welcoming us and helping us feel safe in our own wildernesses.”
—Matthew Paul Turner, New York Times bestselling author of What Is God Like?
Friends of Lake Drive Books,
So many of us are struggling to articulate our religious lives and our spiritual experience these days. We feel a disconnection from the communities and practices that became the center of so much of who we were, and still are in some important ways. But we’ve also learned that something has got to give.
Except, when we do start to make changes, however small, we also often discover perhaps more hurt, confusion, even anger and betrayal. Those feeling are all real, and the first thing to do is to honor them, understand them, and maybe put them into words.
That’s just what Marla Taviano has done in unbelieve: poems on the journey to becoming a heretic. In this spacious, guilt and shame free book of 330 pages, you’ll find a poem on each page that will put your experience into words. Poems have a power all their own, and we need that power as we move away from what was to discover what can be. And there is so much goodness ahead if you take the time to lean into it with a book like unbelieve.
What’s more, you’ll simply love Marla’s courage and thoughtfulness, and her channeling of all our feelings about Christian deconstruction in her subsequent book jaded: a poetic reckoning with white christian evangelical indoctrination. Collect both books, read them in your own way, in your own time, fast or slow. You’re in for a treat.
So grateful for you,
David Morris, Publisher
