Bad Mormon : a memoir

Summary: "Straight off the slopes and into the spotlight, Heather Gay is known to dish God's honest truth. Whether as a businesswoman, mother, or television personality, Heather is unafraid to blaze a new trail; even if at the isolation of her family, friends, and church. Heather was born and bred Mormon. Growing up in Utah, not even the snow-capped mountains could draw attention from the state's most prominent resident: the Mormon Church. Between attending orthodox services, embarking on an eighteen-month mission, attending Brigham Young University, and marrying into a "royal" family, Heather was the definition of a "good Mormon." However, when the doting wife's husband unexpectedly filed for divorce, she was left out in the cold by her church and her community. In this funny, brash, and unbelievably vulnerable book, Bad Mormon recounts Heather's experiences as a single mother to three girls, navigating life post-divorce and post-Mormonism. It follows Heather's early days as a young girl in the church, through to her disavowal of the Mormon faith and success in both business and television. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star documents the challenges of raising strong women despite feeling broken, and teases out the complicated relationship between duty to self and duty to God. Bad Mormon works to reconcile cultural and religious beliefs, with shifting ideologies about the world and its inhabitants. And Heather is its charming narrator. Hers is a story of honesty and transparency in a community where skeletons line the closets. Heather Gay is anything but shy, and it shows in her work. It's a story about finding healing after heartbreak and accomplishment after abandonment-from a woman unafraid of holding anything back"--