~ title: Love Warrior
~ author: Glennon Doyle Melton
~ touted as: Glennon Doyle Melton tells the story of her journey of self-discovery after the implosion of her marriage.Just when Glennon Doyle Melton was beginning to feel she had it all figured out — three happy children, a doting spouse, and a writing career so successful that her first book catapulted to the top of the New York Times bestseller list — when her husband revealed his infidelity and she was forced to realize that nothing was as it seemed. A recovering alcoholic and bulimic, Glennon found that rock bottom was a familiar place. In the midst of crisis, she knew to hold on to what she discovered in recovery: that her deepest pain has always held within it an invitation to a richer life. Love Warrior is the story of one marriage, but it is also the story of the healing that is possible for any of us when we refuse to settle for good enough and begin to face pain and love head-on. This astonishing memoir reveals how our ideals of masculinity and femininity can make it impossible for a man and a woman to truly know one another — and it captures the beauty that unfolds when one couple commits to unlearning everything they’ve been taught so that they can finally, after thirteen years of marriage, commit to living true — true to themselves and to each other. This chronicle of a beautiful, brutal journey speaks to anyone who yearns for deeper, truer relationships and a more abundant, authentic life.
I’d heard of and read various articles and podcasts with and by Glennon Doyle over the years, but had never committed ‘fully’ to any of her work – however I had felt drawn to “Love Warrior”, knowing that it was somewhat of a prequel to “Untamed”.
Also knowing that I wanted to eventually read / listen to Untamed, it seemed only right to get to know Glennon a bit first, and this seemed like a good start.
I must say, although I knew from previous knowledge of the her, that Love Warrior wasn’t going to be Glennons ‘happily ever after’ – I loved her methods of working her way through her life, and getting to where she was at the end of this instalment.
I found it both heart-breaking and heart-warming, with the story constantly pulling me further in, to find out what would happen next.
There were also a lot of ahhh-haaa moments, when I felt like our lives momentarily intersected and Glennon was helping me to understand some deeper part of myself…
It will not be everyones cup of tea, but for me it was a lovely read / listen that I’m sure I’ll pick up a few more times, and will no doubt get different take-aways from it each time.
I’m a Glennon Doyle convert!