About the Author

Chris Davis was a life-long devout Mormon, who checked all the expected boxes of wife, mother, teacher, leader, follower, and believer until 2020 when she left her family and her church to fulfill her own personal destiny as a gay woman and independent thinker. She remains close with her two adult children, one of whom is a believing member of the church and the other who is a transgender man that has also left the church.Chris's other works include contributing an essay about her experience of being queer in the LDS church in an anthology called I Spoke to You with Silence, published in 2022 by the University of Utah Press. She lives quite happily in her home state of Maine. You can connect with Chris and explore other podcasts and public appearances on her website: ChrisDavisProud.com.

Reviews

"The author's experience is so unique that you just can't stop turning the pages, but it's simultaneously universal. I just kept seeing myself and my emotions in so many of the chapters. I was inspired by her story but also felt seen in my own experiences. This is a riveting exploration of anguish and pain burning brightly into self-respect and resiliency; an inner beast who forges the path ahead of you when all you can see is fog. I loved this book." Elena Joy Thurston, TEDX speaker, author, founder and director of the Pride & Joy Foundation
"Chris Davis shares her story of realizing that the life she was living, that she was born into, wasn't her own. In this awakening, Chris was called to unravel everything she'd ever known, everything her community told her she should ever know or desire. In daring to dismantle her life and rebuild it in a way that felt like 'hers, ' Chris reaches out to people all over the world who feel lost, broken, misunderstood, or unseen. She gives voice to all that's possible-if you're willing to look past what's fed to you since birth-to challenge the status quo and be your unapologetic self at all costs." Heather Vickery, Transformational Success Coach, Best-Selling Author of F*ck Fearless, Podcast Producer and Host of The Brave Files and Was It Chance.
"Chris is an incredibly gifted writer and storyteller. She beautifully weaves happy memories with painful ones to paint a picture of her reality that is tender and heartbreaking and just so real. The story unfolds in such a natural, compelling way that it's engaging, full of wit, and utterly un-put-downable. Her voice unabashedly shines through so authentically all throughout. And, despite the pain of her past, she fills the narrative with hope in a bright future. Chris is a fighter-a beautiful, kind, soul-and I feel so privileged to have been allowed this glimpse into her life. The depth with which the reader is invited to experience her story is just powerful. I laughed and I cried, and I want to do better for future generations of LGBTQIA+ people. The rhetoric that shaped Chris's childhood is maddening and highlights the problems in the system. It's only by listening to stories like Chris's that we can make the future a better, safer, more validating and inclusive space." Teresa Richards, Louisville, Kentucky; Author of young adult fiction