Eve in Exile and the Restoration of Femininity - by Rebekah Merkle (Paperback)

About the Book

Eve in Exile is a book about how Biblical femininity and how it can be recovered east of Eden in America.

Book Synopsis

The swooning Victorian ladies and the 1950s housewives genuinely needed to be liberated. That much is indisputable. So, First-Wave feminists held rallies for women's suffrage. Second-Wave feminists marched for Prohibition, jobs, and abortion. Today, Third-Wave feminists stand firmly for nobody's quite sure what. But modern women -- who use psychotherapeutic antidepressants at a rate never before seen in history -- need liberating now more than ever. The truth is, feminists don't know what liberation is. They have led us into a very boring dead end. Eve in Exile sets aside all stereotypes of mid-century housewives, of China-doll femininity, of Victorians fainting, of women not allowed to think for themselves or talk to the men about anything interesting or important. Once those fictionalized stereotypes are out of the way -- whether they're things that make you gag or things you think look pretty fun -- Christians can focus on real women. What did God make real women for?

Review Quotes

"With witty and intelligent writing, Merkle pokes holes in wrong ideas people have about femininity. She gives the history of the feminist movement, showing its roots and results, and explains that women are designed to subdue, fill, help, and glorify. Merkle explains Biblical womanhood in light of the creation mandate, with a uniquely balanced emphasis on women's calling 'to enflesh the weighty truths of our faith.' Readers will appreciate Merkle's nuance, readability, and ability to challenge some aspect of their view of womanhood, no matter which extreme they lean toward." - World Magazine

"Well-researched ... this book has enough sass to keep it lighthearted, and lots of vision about building the culture of the home and bringing dignity instead of disgrace to the vocations of wife and mother." - Touchstone Magazine

"A total pleasure. This book is an excellent treatise on both society's and current cultural Christianity's view on women gone wrong-and how we should fix it... I laughed. I cried. I highlighted. I wanted to high-five someone several times while reading this." -Summer White Jaeger, co-host of Sheologians

"[Rebekah Merkle's] book wisely celebrates how God the Creator has designed women to flourish in the home, in the church, and in society. She doesn't buck against what God's word says. She cheerfully submits to it. Her attitude is refreshing.... Merkle is not just wise-she's witty. She writes with a colorful verve. It's wholesome entertainment that makes you laugh for the right reasons" -Andy Naselli, professor at Bethlehem College

"This is my new go-to recommendation for a book on biblical femininity. Merkle is excellently nuanced and not inappropriately prescriptive, while still being clear and unshrinkingly scripture-based." -Rachel Schultz, author and blogger at On Homemaking

"Winsome, witty, and conversational, Eve in Exile is also a grand and inspiring call for women to reject the selfish pursuits of feminism and give their lives away to serve family and home for the sake of Christ." -Nicole Mahaney Whitacre, co-author of Girl Talk and True Beauty

"Fresh and edifying perspective on a woman's role in the world. Without relying on any of the usual mommy-blog tropes, Merkle gives us a reason to be truly excited about what we get to do and be as Christian women living in the 21 century." -Tilly Dillehay, author and blogger at While We Wait: Practical Theology for Busy Pilgrims