Ruby Slippers: How the Soul of a Woman Brings Her Home

Jonalyn Grace Fincher is candid and fresh, encouraging the reader to accompany her as she journeys through hard questions about identity and value in the context of femininity. This book is thought provoking and fit for some individual soul-searching, which we all could use. I hope to be able to also delve into it in a group setting, because the "Soul Care" questions at the end of each chapter would be great to discuss with others. The author provides a healthy, positive challenge for the many conflicting and tiring messages about femininity we receive.

Fincher attempts to address a question that has long puzzled men--and women. What is a woman? What makes a woman a woman? Though (as she will tell you herself) she planned to write with a formulaic approach (A+B+C=the complete woman), the end product is anything but predictable. Questioning the stereotypes presented by the Christian culture and western culture at large, she presses past the flip answers and opens the door to really ask questions like: What traits do women share with men? What is unique to women? Are women innately inferior to men? How is a woman to handle her femininity? Using her mind, Fincher explores psychology, philosophy, theology, and science to address the questions from all angles. Ruby Slippers is neither an angry anti-chauvinist rant nor a bitter accusation against all who fall short of the "Proverbs 31 woman." Instead, it is an invitation. Fincher asks you to explore womanhood alongside her, by looking at questions such as: How does God ascribe dignity to women? How does God identify with women and reveal Himself through women? Which of our ideas of femininity are based on what woman was created to be? Which are based on the image of fallen woman? By daring to ask difficult questions, Fincher allows the reader the freedom to search herself. By being open to non-traditional answers, she discovers and shares insight that is both thought-provoking and challenging. Even if you do not agree with her, you will be impressed by her extensive research (which you may also investigate, thanks to her footnotes) and the careful thoughtfulness that she displays. If you ever have the opportunity to meet the author (which I did at a conference), you will find that she is every bit as sensitive, rational, and real in person as she is in her writing.

I have just read a copy of Jonalyn's new book - besides the stunning cover, its content is amazing. And I so appreciate her insights - even though I am a male. This is a fine first outing and undoubtedly not the last we'll hear from this very young talent. All 21st century men should read this as a discovery of a woman's soul. You will do your spouse, your sister, your mother - women in general a great favor. And you will become wiser too.

I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title - "How the soul of a woman brings her home". The soul of a woman? What did this mean exactly? Jonalyn Fincher has done a wonderful job of making "the deep things of God" (2 Cor 2:10)accessible to the average reader. I have eagerly rushed through this book, knowing that I will be reading it several times. This book is a wonderful example of the solid, gentle but challenging teaching that God has equipped women to provide, and it has fed my soul. If you only read one book this year, this should be it!

I do not think that I have ever so eagerly awaited the arrival of a book as much as i have Jonalyn FIncher's book Ruby Slippers. When it finally arrived I tried to dive into it and read it as fast as I could. Just a few pages in I knew that I had to take it slow and really embrace what Jonalyn had written. One of the reason i knew that i would need to read it slowly has her words penetrated much deeper then surface level. As the subtitle says, she is aiming at bring women's souls home, and her words hit the deep regions of my soul stirring my soul to try and really embrace what feminity really means. Her previous schooling in philosophy shines through in this book and causes the reader to try and grasp the finer points of Christianity in order to grasp what it truly means to be a female Christian. Jonalyn refuses to let you get by with just giving you a list she has created to being this "ideal Christian woman," but instead ask you to search your own soul to find what it means for you to be a female. She wrote in way to make the reader think about what exactly she is saying. She dares to stand up against traditional thinking about feminity and begs the reader to not force oneself into the premade corsets of our Christian and worldly society. Jonalyn's book has been much needed in this time and age where the world tries to define a gender with a specific physical image of the female, Jonalyn tries to help believers see that one must find the meaning of feminity as a soul before we can ever fully understand our feminity as a physical being.