As levels of religious affiliation continue to drop in Western society, can stories about the faith lives of women past and present lead people back to churches, to temples, to monasteries—to God? Publishers are offering fresh interpretations of sacred texts as well as stories from the lives of Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim women writers, who are raising just such questions in new biographies, personal narratives, and studies of scripture.

Kathryn Riggs, senior editor at Skyhorse, says women readers are going “back to the basics” and looking at examples in the Bible to really know “they aren’t the first women to face fear, doubt, anxiety, overwhelm, loneliness, injustice, jealousy, barrenness, pain, loss, and death. They aren’t the first women to struggle with balancing everything in their lives, from marriage and parenting to careers and living in communities. And,” Riggs added, “they won’t be the last.”

Biblical women had less agency than modern women “and they weren’t always treated with the dignity and respect they deserved,” Riggs notes. “But they lived and died and struggled and thrived much like we do today, and there is much we can learn from the choices, mistakes, and sacrifices these women made as they clung to God and lived out their faith.”

At Kregel, managing editor Rachel Kirsch notes increased levels of exhaustion, burnout, and fear among women today. “When hardships come, we don’t want to hear empty messages of female empowerment,” she adds. “We are keenly aware of our finite strength and resources, and we want to know and believe there is someone greater than ourselves.”

Though the bulk of the new books on women’s faith are about Christianity, Random House v-p and executive editor Jamia Wilson says she observes a “rising movement” among seekers from all backgrounds “who are not abandoning faith but expanding it—owning their spiritual agency, deepening their connection to the divine.” Willson sees the current cultural era as one marked by “a profound spiritual renaissance" in which readers are searching for stories about faith as “a dynamic, evolving force” rather than rigidly structured.

“These narratives don’t just inspire; they invite readers to see themselves as active participants in shaping their own spiritual paths, whether within or beyond traditional institutions,” says Wilson.

Women challenge the patriarchy

A handful of women writers directly address problematic views of gender roles within their faith traditions in a variety of new titles. Female figures who have been marginalized, ignored, or misunderstood are receiving a spotlight, while other titles reinterpret religious texts in a more egalitarian way.

Stories about men dominate the Bible, and religious laws have long prioritized male leadership roles in support of patriarchal values, writes Ashley Marie Purpura, a scholar of Orthodox Christianity and an associate professor of religious studies at Purdue University. Her book, Women in the Orthodox Tradition: Feminism, Theology, and Equality (Notre Dame Univ., Apr.), focuses on gender inequities within Orthodox Christian theology. Drawing on sources such as hagiographies and hymns, Purpura examines “problematic religious constructions of women,” including the description of Mary Magdalene as “weak.”

“The possibilities for arguing for women’s equality and opportunities within Orthodox Christianity will remain limited if the patriarchal-ness of its historical past and present tradition are not addressed first,” Purpura writes.

Emily King, senior editor at the University of Notre Dame Press who acquired Women in the Orthodox Tradition, cites Purpura’s work as taking a “uniquely Orthodox approach to feminist theology” that will help readers “learn how to navigate difficult theological tensions from within a beloved tradition... rather than leaving religious commitments behind.”

Among readers King hopes to reach are scholars who are interested in bringing feminist insights to bear on the Orthodox tradition as well as “others with similar questions about the Orthodox church,” she says.

A forgotten female saint

Feminist theologian Meggan Watterson offers a detailed portrait of Thecla, a largely unfamiliar female figure of the first century, in The Girl Who Baptized Herself: How a Lost Scripture About a Saint Named Thecla Reveals the Power of Knowing Our Worth by (Random House, July). Watterson introduces The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a book that is not part of the Bible we know today. Jesus’s followers in early centuries honored Thecla as a saint, but the book, along with other sacred texts such as The Gospel of Mary, did not make the early church fathers’ cut to become part of the canon. In the story, the teenaged Thecla defies expectations of marriage and motherhood, becoming a leader whose actions suggest that women have the authority to both teach and perform baptisms. Watterson contends that “this hidden scripture suggests that Christianity before the fourth century was about defying the patriarchy, not deifying it,” according to the publisher.

Random House’s Wilson, who acquired The Girl Who Baptized Herself, believes the book helps demonstrate how “women have always claimed their own spiritual authority throughout history, often in ways that challenge conventions.” She adds, “These narratives don’t just inspire; they invite readers to see themselves as active participants in shaping their own spiritual paths, whether within or beyond traditional institutions.”

Arguing for the relevance and benefits of religion, author Kelsey Osgood also touches on the harmful legacies of patriarchy in Godstruck: Seven Women’s Unexpected Journeys to Religious Conversion (Viking, Apr.). “I always assumed that a woman would be less likely or willing to become religious, because most traditional religions are patriarchal in nature, and therefore a female convert would have more to lose, both practically and spiritually,” she writes, before addressing what she calls the flawed assumption “that secular liberalism equals freedom equals happiness.”

To make her case, Osgood details her personal story of converting to Judaism as well as the stories of six other millennial women who converted to Amish, Catholicism, Evangelicalism, Islam, Mormonism, and Quakerism. In a starred review, PW described it as “an intimate and often moving look at faith’s enduring appeal.”

Pictures of perseverance

In addition to books that challenge patriarchal structures are those that affirm women’s roles within faith traditions. With an initial print run of 150,000 copies, clothes historian Lucy Adlington’s follow-up to The Dressmakers of Auschwitz connects the stories of four Jewish women whose lives were changed by an ordinary article of clothing. Four Red Sweaters: Powerful True Stories of Women and the Holocaust (Harper Paperbacks, Mar. 18) focuses on the resilience, resourcefulness, and kindness exemplified by the young women as they faced different horrors of the Holocaust, including deportation, devastating loss, and imprisonment. PW called the book “a poignant testament to the unconquerability of the human spirit” in its starred review.

Also set during World War II, In This Body, In This Lifetime: Awakening Stories of Japanese Soto Zen Women (Shambhala, June) features first-hand accounts of 30 nuns and laywomen who practiced under female Zen master Sozen Nagasawa Roshi, whose pioneering work led to equal rights for Japanese nuns. Translated by Kogen Czarnik and edited by Esho Sudan, the stories feature spiritual experiences of awakening despite loss, grief, hunger, and the constant threat of air raids.

The book brings “a rare and intimate testament to the resilience of women on the Zen path,” according to Jenn Brown, who acquired it for Shambhala. She adds, “It offers a window into their struggles, awakenings, and unwavering dedication to liberation, even in the face of war and societal constraints.”

Illuminating biblical women

Publishers are shining a light on women who appear in the Bible, however briefly, in several news titles. Skyhorse is following up on Mary E. DeMuth’s 2022 title The Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible with two more books dedicated to female figures in scripture. Out later this month, The Most Overlooked Women of the Bible: What Their Stories Teach Us about Being Seen and Heard focuses on female empowerment through 10 biblical characters, while The Most Overwhelmed Women of the Bible: How Their Stories Help Us Find Peace is slated for publication in June and examines the importance of rest.

Skyhorse’s Riggs hopes “that readers truly see that these biblical women, and the entire Bible, point to Jesus, the ultimate Defender and Advocate for women who always treated them with dignity and compassion—often in revolutionary ways. Jesus understands us better than anyone else ever could.”

Brave Woman, Mighty God: 30 Things You Can Do (Kregel, out now) collects the stories of Ruth, Sarah, and Esther, as well as lesser-known figures such as Jehosheba, and even nameless women such as Zarephath’s widow. Author Laura L. Smith, a Bible teacher and host of the Brave Woman, Mighty God podcast, shares personal experiences with relationship struggles, work and family life imbalances, and other challenges that coincide with each biblical story to underscore “God’s faithfulness,” she writes.

“The women in the Bible reveal to us the ways our mighty God has always empowered women to be brave,” Smith writes in the book. “When culture oppressed them, when people let them down, when life was dangerous, or when painful circumstances arose, God was there.”