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A raw and lyrical exploration of the confining expectations of womanhood and, if we dare, what lies beyond those limitations—from a writer Roxane Gay calls "vibrant and thoughtful."
Gorgeous, badass, and practically waiting to pounce, Good Woman: A Reckoning is acclaimed essayist Savala Nolan's follow-up to her "standout collection" (New York Times Book Review) Don't Let It Get You Down.
A lifetime of playing by the rules of female social conditioning is not what it's cracked up to be for Nolan. The years of making herself smaller (literally and metaphorically); the sexual advances that led to more than she wanted; the bad marriage she fought like hell to keep; all the ways others questioned her identity or choices and she let it slide to keep the peace; her silence when requested; her body when desired—none of it worked. None of it protected her the way it was advertised to.
Nolan noticed the same was true for the women around her and the women in history she read about. Across time and location, they were raised to be agreeable and "good." Hyper-visible as sexual objects but invisible as full people. Living in a physical world created by men for men. Taking on the ultimate role of birth-giver and caretaker, yet seeing it remain an unsung act, even as it's a God-like endeavor. Only in midlife did Nolan begin to realize she was capable of living outside these cages of conditioning so slyly insidious that they're nearly invisible.
Good Woman elegantly probes the knotty conditions themselves, the costs of adhering to them, and what happens when one refuses to comply. The twelve stunning and unforgettable essays blend memoir, reportage, and history to create a collection that is alternately bold, brash, and explosive ... and ravishingly tender, sensual, and joyous. Nolan takes aim at big and old ideas, and she does not miss. Hers is a testimony to witness and to savor.
"Searing…Nolan's lyrical prose and sharp observations make for exhilarating reading, reexamining old assumptions and opening up new possibilities. A powerful call to transcend the barriers imposed on us by society and establish new frameworks for living." —Booklist (starred review)
"A defiant woman speaks out...Race, marriage, sexual desire, and motherhood recur as themes in impassioned essays on freedom, disillusionment, and yearnings...A raw, forthright memoir." —Kirkus Reviews
"Electrifying...Startlingly clear-eyed...Stunning in scope...Revelatory...Crafted with Nolan's intellectually curious, animated narration, Good Woman will resonate with readers who sense that things are not working out quite the way they should. For them, Nolan's essays offer a dynamic framework, a 'working compass' for redesigning our roles without altering or diluting the magical essence of what makes us uniquely female." —Shelf Awareness
"Savala Nolan's Good Woman is a stone cold, knock-out punch delivered with the caress of a silk glove. This book cracks you open. Then, having done so, with Nolan's characteristic nerviness, she dares to tend to your tender places. This book will change you." —Brittany Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower
"This good woman thinks boldly and writes with exhilarating passion. Whatever the subject—gender, sex, race, class, art, politics—she disrupts piety and honors complexity. These are smart and daring essays to learn from and revel in." —Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland and Constructing a Nervous System
This information about Good Woman was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Savala Nolan is an essayist and professor who writes about race, bodies, and gender. She helped create the Peabody Award–winning podcast The Promise, and directs the social justice program at UC Berkeley, School of Law, where she teaches about the role of identity in lawyering. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Harper's magazine, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Time, Forbes, LitHub, and more.
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