Holy Woman (Louise Omer, Scribe)

For Louise Omer, leaving a problematic marriage became leaving a faith. For her, the two went hand-in-hand, one a symbol of the other: the wife is subject to the husband, as the husband is subject to God. Why? Omer felt the question before she consciously acknowledged it. Why did she—and so many of us across many different cultures—accept that God is male? And what did that mean for her as the (female) protagonist of her own life? What follows in Omer’s memoir Holy Woman is an intercontinental search for the Goddess and for the roots of male-centric faith systems, as well as hard-won insights into the life Omer had previously accepted, but no longer will. Having grown up with similar beliefs, and having similar realisations following marriage, Omer’s journey rang true for me. It will ring true for others. Holy Woman is similar in genre to Eat Pray Love and readers of Elizabeth Gilbert will enjoy Omer’s personal story, in particular it’s funny personal vignettes. But—as with Eat Pray Love—this is a serious journey, undertaken at a moment of severe personal trauma for the writer, and lighter moments are overshadowed by more serious ones. Yet it is a positive book. Holy Woman will challenge assumptions about religion and faith and the culture we accept. Perhaps for some, as it did for me, it will solidify their doubts.

Rebecca Whitehead is a freelance writer from Melbourne.

Category: Reviews