This memoir by Sara Glass is truly something special, diving deep into themes of family, community, and the complex layers of trauma that bind and shape us. Through beautifully written moments and reflections, Glass challenges us to rethink what it means to break free from the status quo and start fresh. Her journey isn’t polished or perfect; it’s honest, raw, and full of vulnerability, showing us just how hard it can be to rebuild a life that feels true and aligned.

What stands out most is Glass’s openness in sharing even the parts of her story where she isn’t the hero. There’s an immense strength in her willingness to expose the messy, sometimes painful reality of growth and healing. This book feels like the culmination of both pain and love, woven together in a way that feels incredibly real and relatable. It’s a powerful read that leaves you feeling grateful for Glass’s bravery and her incredible storytelling.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat: A Memoir centers around Sara's (our author) incredible yet difficult journey through a loveless marriage, sexual assault, loss of loved ones, leaving the Hasidic community and fighting for her children- all while coming to terms with herself, and finally accepting/coming to terms with who she really is.

“The knowledge had been inside me all along, I just wish I had been allowed to look for it”

Sara's story is not an easy one; there is only so much I can share from her story that I hope would convince you to read this memoir - but it's incredibly informative and moving.
She grew up in the Hasidic Jewish community - she knew what was expected of her. She knew her role in society as outlined by her faith, upbringing and relationships - though it seems at every turn of her story, something deep within her wanted to push against that expectation and reach beyond that barrier. She had great dreams - but was never allowed to reach without backlash.
She was trapped in a loveless marriage:
"For my 24th birthday, Yasi bought me a toaster oven and a bread machine. It was confirmation of all that I had already known. To him, I was not a woman. I was a vagina who could cook."

She was attracted to women, but lead a heteronormative life to ensure her children were always in her care. She was controlled and suppressed by a power that she ultimately did not think she would be able to be free of. Eventually, she persevered and fought to finally be in control of the life she and her children deserved to live.

Sara's journey is hard, emotional and heartfelt. She explores a new world and discovers aspects of her life she did not know was possible. This story is freeing. This memoir provides a look into the window of the ultra-conservative Orthodox Jewish community and celebrates the journey of self discovery and fighting for what is best for one's self.

Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada, Dr. Sara Glass, and Netgalley for my ARC copy of this memoir.

This remarkable and raw memoir was such an important, eye-opening read. Kudos to the author for bravely sharing her story in order to speak her truth and break the silence on a controlling religious community. A truly powerful read.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for access to the e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a heartfelt memoir.

It is a story that shows how women cab be manipulated to endure suffering because of religious traditions.

I could feel the love for her children was making her find the best path forcthrm

I also learned alot about this religion

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for writing a review. My heartfelt thanks to Atria Books and Dr. Sara Glass for this opportunity.

Exploring the lives of women raised in Hasidic or ultra-Orthodox environments has always intrigued me, especially given my own Jewish upbringing and education. I have some familiarity with these communities, but Sara’s story brought new depth and understanding. Having previously read two memoirs by women from similar backgrounds, I was drawn to the raw honesty and emotional journey in this book.

Sara’s narrative is a poignant exploration of the intense desire to belong, to honor one's faith, and the painful reality of feeling out of place. Her struggle, including the harrowing attempt at self-imposed conversion therapy, is both heartbreaking and enlightening. Her writing is not just captivating; it’s a testament to courage and resilience. Sara's bravery in sharing her story is remarkable, and it’s inspiring to see how she found her voice and learned to embrace it. Her journey toward acceptance, both of herself and within her community, is moving, and I’m relieved she was able to keep her children and find peace.

This book is a powerful testament to the human spirit and the search for identity and acceptance.

I really enjoyed this brilliant memoir about a gay woman who breaks free from her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. The book follows her through two marriages to men, and her struggles with the strictures of her community as far as women, sexuality and education go. I found it very well -written and hard to put down. Highly recommend!!

Wow! Sara is faced with extreme challenges throughout her entire life. She is forced to be someone she is not in order to prevent losing her children. She goes through ordeals no one should ever have to experience. But, through it all, even when she should have been at her breaking point she held herself together for her children, so that she could give them the life they deserve. I really enjoyed this glimpse into a culture I admit I don't know a lot about. I even saved some of the recipes she mentions eating with family for Shabbos. However, the strict rules enforced upon women and the way they are treated essentially makes them slaves to their husbands who use them simply for housekeeping and procreation. Love is not sought out or even welcome for that matter, marriages are arranged for the betterment of their social standing, and girls are often married and having children while they are still technically teenagers themselves. This memoir gave me all the feels, at times shocked and appalled, and others filled with a sense of joy and excitement. Highly recommended!

I am not usually a memoir reader but I was hooked from the start. This will now be my go to memoir that I will recommend to everyone. It was heartbreaking and moving and so full of hope.

Dr. Sara Glass was raised in a Hasidic community in New York. Married at eighteen to a man who took religious devotion to another level, she committed herself to following the teachings of her rabbi and opinions of her family members, pushing deep down her suspicions that she was gay. After finding the courage to ask for a divorce, Glass began to explore her sexuality and faith while battling constantly with the need to keep her children safe from the community that threatened to take them away.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat is a beautiful memoir, full of deep wounds and trauma. Glass has a PhD in Psychology and Master's in Social Work and has devoted her life to helping children and their families navigate many of the same traditions and situations she experienced, while uplifting their Jewish heritage.

Be warned, there are numerous triggers here, including spousal abuse, SA, and suicide. But Glass's story is ultimately hopeful with a happy ending.

This was one of the most heart wrenching books that I’ve ever read. The author takes us inside of her life as a closeted woman, living in a society that doesn’t allow her the freedom to be who she is, and we are carried along with her as she finds the strength inside of herself to break free and embrace her true self. I found this book to be both informative and emotionally gripping, without the feeling of being emotionally manipulated. A truly amazing read.

This was a really candid memoir about Sara Glass’ experience living under the dictates of a religious community that was fundamentally opposed her true identity. Sara lived her entire life in a Brooklyn Hasidic Jewish community. She fought against her religious community’s rigidity and traditionalism in many ways including persuing a high level of education (for a woman this was frowned upon) and seeking a divorce after her marriage collapsed.

Sara’s biggest struggle was in revealing her true queer identity. Sara faced estrangement and losing her children if she chose to express her true self. Her struggle was intensely difficult and she made some incredibly brave choices. This was a powerful and eye-opening story.

An honest and eye-opening tale of self-discovery.

Kissing Girls on Shabbat is Dr. Sara Glass' memoir about her life being raised in an Hasidic Jewish community. Her memoir has themes of homosexuality, mental illness, sexual assault, intergenerational trauma and details her two marriages, her educational journey to become a psychologist. Glass details with frank openness and vulnerability her early relationships with women, and her journey to know her true self amidst a world that expected her to follow tradition.

I thought Glass' story was beautifully written and an absolute page turner. I typically listen to memoirs however I read this one on my e-reader and was hooked from the early pages. Glass details a world I know very little about with clarity and transparency. Her story is relatable in a multitude of ways, but especially to those women who fight expectation, sexual assault and mental illness.

One of the must read memoirs of the year!
Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly vulnerable and open memoir about an Orthodox Jewish woman and her journey to divorce her husband and explore her sexuality in a Sapphic relationship despite knowing it goes against all the rules of her religion. Great on audio read by the author herself, this was so enlightening, with great mental health rep and perfect for fans of authors like Melissa Broder or Heidi Shertok. Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon Schuster for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!! An excellent choice for Pride Month reading!

Advanced Book Review! Thank you @simonschusterca & @netgalley for sending me this book for review. Opinions are my own.
I’ve read a lot of books, fiction & non-fiction, about the Brooklyn Hasidic (ultra-Orthodox Jews) community. They often have one thing in common – someone is struggling and wants to leave the Hasidic community. These books make clear that, by leaving, they are giving up their families, friends, and everything they know. These books provide a fascinating look into the insular world of Hasidism, but unfortunately, don’t paint it in a very good light.
Dr. Sara Glass writes that the goal of Kissing Girls on Shabbat is “to gradually address and reduce the larger systemic disparities, particularly concerning individuals diagnosed with mental illness or those who identify within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.”
In her memoir, she writes about the difficulties both she and her sister faced within the Hasidic community. Sara was trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, while her sister struggled with mental illness. Both women faced losing their children as a result of the community’s strict rules and intolerance.
This book tore at my heart. It’s difficult to read about mothers struggling to provide for their children, the mistreatment of women, and families torn apart by religious restrictions. Even more so that this takes place within a Jewish community. While certain things are familiar, like Shabbat and holidays, Hasidism is so vastly different from my own secular Jewish community. I’m glad that Sara found the strength and courage to leave and live true to herself and her children, with the support of organizations that help people in this position.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with this e-book ARC to review.

This coming-of-age memoir charts Sara’s journey from an arranged marriage in her Hasidic community at a young age to embracing her true identity as a woman attracted to other women. We get an inside look at the convoluted process of obtaining a divorce for women in a Hasidic community, and the sacrifices Sara must make to retain custody of her children. Spurned by her sisters and fearing for her children’s future, Sara forces herself to remain compliant with the rules of Orthodox Judaism and marries another Jewish man. But, after a devastating loss and with her children’s future at stake, Sara finally connects with the right resources and releases the fear that’s held her back so she can start loving herself for who she really is.

What an emotional read! There is a lot to digest here as the author discusses mental health, sexuality, and ultra-conservative religion. While I learned a lot about the realities of living within the restrictions of a Hasidic community, I felt at times like the book was becoming a list describing the many painful events of the past to the point where the nuances that could be afforded by reflection were lost. Because the narrative is lacking, sections of the book felt too slow and hard to get through as a reader. I had trouble connecting to the author, and therefore my biggest takeaways became what I learned about Hasidic Judaism, rather than what I gleaned from the memoir as a whole.

This was an incredibly eye-opening and shocking memoir.

This book recounts the author, Sara Glass's, experience living in an extremely strict Orthodox community while grappling with achieving her dreams for higher education, becoming independent, and coming to terms with her own sexual identity while also fighting to maintain custody of her children .

I was captivated by Glass' story from the first few pages. I could feel, from the first chapter, the author's guilt, fear, regret and heartbreak. Glass had to fight her attraction to other women, enter into a loveless arranged marriage at the age of 19 where she became pregnant five times all before the age of 25, where she felt obligated to continue conforming to her strict religious practices or risk having her children taken away from her. Throughout it all, she still somehow found the courage to pursue her dreams of obtaining a PhD, embark on a journey to self-acceptance, and slowly distance herself from the influences of her religious upbringing. It was not an easy journey - in fact, it's a journey full of pain, loss, trauma, and sexual assault.

This book was not only full of vulnerable thoughts, emotions and experiences, it also provided really interesting information about Hasidic Jewish practices, Prior to reading this book, I had very little knowledge about about the Hasidic Jewish community aside from a New York Times article I came across last year regarding the Hasidic private schools' failure to provide basic education. I also had zero knowledge about ultra-Orthodox Jewish practices. So, I was shocked to learn about the author's extremely conservative and oppressive upbringing in modern America.

Kissing Girls on Shabbot: A Memoir – Book Review

Dr. Sara Glass opened up her world, her innermost thoughts and the struggle some face while growing up in a Hasidic, ultra-Orthadox Jewish community - and all I can say is wow!

I received this ARC from @simonschusterca and @netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I find memoirs so interesting, as the author has taken the time to bring us into their world in order to tell their story. And Dr. Glass’s story is heart-wrenching and eye opening. As somebody who isn’t so familiar with the strict rules and complex conventions of an ultra-Orthodox religion, the reader is immediately brought into this world as we follow along on Dr. Glass’ journey. The rigid guidelines, the instructions from men in power – and those not in power, that dictate how she should live is suffocating. And yet second nature to those all around her.

However, Dr. Glass has a secret, and she will do whatever it takes to protect her children and her family from the fact that she is attracted to women. As we learn, she makes one difficult decision after the other, but as a reader all I felt myself doing was cheering her on. Through her loss and her struggles, I read page after page hoping she finds a way to find peace. Through the fear of losing her children, I hoped she would rise about it. Ultimately, I wanted her to be at peace in her heart and mind and find a way to be herself, without any repercussions to her children.

How can one find a way to hold her beliefs close, while allowing herself happiness? That is the struggle Dr. Glass faces. And one in which she navigates through marriage and divorce and through death and love with courage and tenacity and grace.

I gave this book five-stars. I applaud Dr. Glass for the courage it took to write this, and more so for the bravery she needed to find peace for herself and her children.


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Wow!!

This book! Superbly written! Evocative and haunting. I was often left breathless, gasping, tears welling in my eyes, and laughing out loud while reading.

If you love memoirs, you need to read this one. If you don't read memoirs, you need to read this one!

If I'm honest, I'd like to be best friends with Sara Glass..


This one is out in June. Go get it!

It offers a refreshing perspective on identity, love, and faith. I knew really quickly that this book would hook me in. Sara Glass's memoir is difficult to read but oh so important.

I was so interested in the story of this author I read the book in only a few sittings. I will certainly recommend it to others who are interested in learning more about the communities reference and women who are working to overcome extreme adversity.