It’s a good year for books for LDS women.  The Diary of Two Mad Black Mormons, Neylan McBaine’s Women at Church, and the LDS authored, broader appealing Girls Who Choose God just among those we’ve reviewed so far, a lot of women are sharing what matters to them. These books are speaking to the needs of women who want to listen and also feel heard. Add to that Heather Farrell’s just released Walking With the Women of the New Testament. 

Farrell, a frequent reader here is also a blogger herself, writes the thoughtful, inspiring blog womeninthescriptures.com.  The ideas she began the blog with are extended into this new publication. The book is lush with information: each women (or groups of women) are featured with scripture references and accessible retelling of and suggestion of what each woman’s life may have been like as well personal connections and insights Farrell found from studying each story. The book is especially written as an LDS woman for an LDS audience, references and links pulled from LDS leaders and LDS scriptures (Book of Mormon, D&C, and the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible).

The book is approachable for anyone who wishes to see and know the women in the New Testament as personally as Heather Farrell has. In the process of writing and researching she’s become an amateur scholar and her book is filled with keen observations that have come though her earnest wrestling with the text, research, and asking to understand.

The book is designed to be savored with rich styling and color throughout the book. However, I found Mandy Jane Williams’s art to be a bit distracting: the models and clothes she features in her images look at lot more blond and modern than what hey were ancient women they were intended to imply. Or perhaps the choice was deliberate to help the reader connect with inspiration though the image?

Regardless, the book is deeply personal and thoughtful.  It’s the sort of book that is perfect for gifting to those who want to get more from their scripture study. Each woman’s story is so open, inviting the reader to connect with these women as examples and as friends. Heather’s deep faith and belief enriches the text beckoning all readers to share what she has found.