In a culture that often conflates womanhood with a wallflower-y and opinion-less existence, it’s easy to grasp why this book has struck a chord. You need to break free from the conventions, expectations, and cultural conditioning of your environment and become. This is the metaphor that drives the book. She realizes that she has lived her entire life like a caged animal, settling for store-bought steaks and the approval of strangers. The taming of the cheetah feels familiar. As the carnivore is rewarded with a piece of meat, the crowd applauds, but Doyle becomes queasy. Doyle’s clan watches a trained cheetah chase a stuffed pink bunny attached to the back of a jeep. Untamed begins with a family trip to the zoo to see the main event, the Cheetah Run.

The book opens: “Four years ago, married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman.” From there, the memoir documents what Doyle believes was her own untaming-the process of unlearning everything she was taught about family, gender, sex, love, motherhood, God, and Christianity-and forging her own path to find happiness. From her roots as a Christian mommy blogger to her rise to fame as a successful author, speaker, and activist, Doyle made headlines in 2016 when she announced she was leaving her husband of 14 years for soccer star Abby Wambauch. Glennon Doyle’s Untamed has captured the hearts and minds of American women, hovering around the #1 spot on The New York Times bestseller list since its release.

Untamed glennon doyle