“It began with just wanting to tell the truth. But truth-telling has a way of snowballing.”
Bringing truth into words is a struggle. It’s the struggle I immersed myself in while writing Baptistland as I wove the story of my upbringing in a deeply dysfunctional family together with a story of religion gone wrong—and what it took to expose it.
I quake to realize that, with the book’s imminent release, I’m unleashing so much profoundly personal stuff into the world. But I am.
Baptistland is arriving May 7 and it’s available for pre-order right now.
I have felt so honored and moved by the early responses from advance readers, endorsers, and launch team members. One reader said she felt like she was “sitting down with a good friend over coffee.”
I hope that’s how many of you will feel—as though we’re talking about some difficult things, but in a way that’s caring and hopeful, empowering and even joyful.
described Baptistland as “the story of resilience.”Karen Swallow Prior wrote: “Baptistland will make you weep. It will make you angry. It will break your heart. It will open your eyes.”
And I thought… I hope so. I hope it will open some eyes.
wrote: “In Baptistland, we see…the painful, vital work of learning how to demand a better life for oneself and those who follow.”I hope something in the book will resonate with each of you, as you do your own vital work of building a better life.
Finally, this endorsement from author Lacy Crawford really nailed the essence of the book:
“In this steady, harrowing account, Christa Brown details the brutality of the social hierarchies of the Southern Baptist Convention, as evinced in the SBC’s leadership, its clergy, and the teachings from its pulpits. In almost fractal-like fashion, the dominance and patriarchal aggression of abusive pastors is recreated in smaller and smaller settings, between husbands and wives, parents and children, older and younger siblings. The one constant is the requirement that no one speak truth to power. To be an abuser is to remain at the heart of the fold; to speak up as victim or ally is to be exiled, or worse. Christa Brown took that deal, and the result is clarity and candor.”
(If you haven’t yet read Lacy’s acclaimed book, Notes on a Silencing, I highly recommend it!)
Pre-orders are so important to a book’s ability to gain traction. They affect everything from algorithms to media. So, I hope you’ll pre-order Baptistland. (And if you’ve already pre-ordered, thank you! Be sure to claim your freebies here.)
Below are several options for pre-ordering:
Tertulia (20% off with code CHRISTA at checkout)
And while you’re at it, ask your public library or church library to order it!
For those of you who are audio-book listeners, that’s coming soon as well, and with a fabulous narrator who brings it all to life! Watch for it!
If there’s one thing the making of Baptistland has shown me, it’s how many other people play a role in bringing forth a book. I’m grateful to everyone who, in ways big and small, has helped to bring Baptistland into the world, and who has supported and promoted it along the way.
Most of all… that includes you, the readers. You’re such a big part of this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
That Lacy Crawford quote hit hard. Grateful to you both for exposing this for what it is.
Wishing you well on your book release, Christa. I pre-ordered yesterday. I hope it reaches many.
Lacy’s brief review is excellent!