Kissing girls on Shabbat : a memoir
Edition
First Atria Books hardcover edition.
Publication Information
New York : One Signal Publishers/Atria, 2024.
Physical Description
x, 293 pages ; 24 cm
Summary
Growing up in the Hasidic community of Brooklyn's Borough Park, Sara Glass knew one painful truth: what was expected of her and what she desperately wanted were impossibly opposed. Tormented by her attraction to women and trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, she found herself unable to conform to her religious upbringing and soon, she made the difficult decision to walk away from the world she knew. Sara's journey to self-acceptance began with the challenging battle for a divorce and custody of her children, an act that left her on the verge of estrangement from her family and community. Controlled by the fear of losing custody of her two children, she forced herself to remain loyal to the compulsory heteronormativity baked into Hasidic Judaism and married again. But after suffering profound loss and a shocking sexual assault, Sara decided to finally be completely true to herself. Kissing Girls on Shabbat is not only a love letter to Glass's children, herself, and her family--it is an unflinching window into the world of ultra-conservative Orthodox Jewish communities and an inspiring celebration of learning to love yourself.
Contents
- Author's note
- Part I: Watch me burn. First night
- Unholy
- Her body is Bible
- Maybe I'll pray
- Sound of silence
- Watch me burn
- Mad world
- Girl on fire
- Part II: Darker. Crossroads
- Far away from here
- Sweet madness
- I can kiss away the pain
- I like the way it hurts
- Help me unravel
- Part III: Something wild. Where do broken hearts go?
- God bless the broken road
- Landslide
- Beyond the door
- Only human
- More than I should
- Lose you to love me
- I don't even know if I believe
- Where dreams are made true
- Epilogue
- The greatest self-disclosure of all.