The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher's Kid: A memoir

Caught between the archaic religious dictates of her Pentecostal family and the complexities of the world outside, Ronna Russell fights for survival and more in The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher's Kid. Loneliness, raw sexuality, unexpected kindness and cruelty, and through it all, an understated endurance with solid granite at the core, Russell's memoir is alternately hard, hungry, raw, and tender-like sex and love and parent-hood and simply being. I sat down to read the first chapter on a busy day and instead read straight through.

---Dr. Valerie Tarico, author of Trusting Doubt

For those who fear sex. For those who feel shame around it. For those who feel guilt around their own desire. The chapters in The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher's Kid are puzzle pieces that, when put together, reveal a picture of how they way we are brought up and the life we live can leave an indelible mark on the way we see ourselves, and the way we end up moving through the world. If you're looking for insight into your own grappling around sex-and a sort of absolution-Ronna's story is for you.

---Steph Auteri, author of A Dirty Word: How a Sex Writer Reclaimed her Sexuality

Ronna Russell takes us on a no-holds-barred ride through her unconventional childhood and how she emerged as her own person on every level. She is a fighter, a survivor, and shines a light on the things we often choose to keep in the dark. And she does it with remarkable unapologetic honesty.

---Lisa F. Smith, author of Girl Walks Out of a Bar

Ronna writes with an honesty that is refreshing and authentic. Her conversational writing style draws you in and keeps you reading. Her story is at times painful, but her wittiness and raw humor shine through.

---Amber Garza, author of When I Was You

A frank, intimate account of one woman's search for herself as a woman, mother, and sexual being. Ronna Russell's narrative weaves together memoires from childhood, young adulthood, and the more recent past as she recounts her upbringing as a preacher's kid in the United Pentecostal Church-where she wasn't allowed to cut her hair, wear slacks, or fraternize with non-church members-and details her journey to find authenticity. Written with the level of confession normally reserved for close friends whispering secrets over a glass of wine, Russell's memoir is a revelation of self-discovery and acceptance.

---Lara Lillibridge, author of Girlish: Growing Up in a Lesbian Home

The Uncomfortable Confessions of a Preacher's Kid is one of those stories that you couldn't make up, as they say-a cascading series of dramas that take the reader through Ronna Russell's rigid, fundamentalist childhood, the disgrace of her preacher father, her sexual explorations, and the slow decline and dissolution of her marriage. Russell's sparing, matter-of-fact prose is the perfect vehicle for this autobiography, offering a counterpoint to the often painful and shocking events described. Her seamless chronological shifts from childhood to adulthood and back remind the reader of the ways in which the past informs the present and abuse of any kind is sticky and enduring. Though Russell's confessions ultimately celebrate the capacity of women to survive and thrive, they are never preachy, or self-indulgent. Indeed, the book opens with the most sizzling sex scene I've ever read. This is a book to devour at one or two sittings, then pass on to your bestie!

---Dr. Claire Robson, author of Love in Good Time and Writing for Change