"This is a woman's answer to Augustine's Confessions. The narrator gives birth to her daughter and finds she has given birth to a new self. But this conversion to the new life of motherhood demands other conversions, further births, newer selves. As she struggles with the thorny issues of modern parenthood-raising a white child in a world of racism, a daughter in a world of patriarchy, and a religious child in a religiously divided home-the author finds herself reflecting on some of the oldest questions of humankind: How does the world reveal God to us? How do we live well in a world of suffering? Why are we tempted to betray our love?"--

Natalie Carnes is Associate Professor at Baylor University, where she teaches feminist theology and religion classes. She has published two books, most recently Image and Presence (Stanford, 2017), and multiple articles and online essays, including pieces on Pope Rihanna and nursing Madonnas. She lives in Waco, Texas, with her three daughters, two cats, and one husband.

1. Idolatry
2. Imitation
3. Mercy
4. Suffering
5. Desire
6. Temptation
7. Domination
8. Conversion
9. Communion
10. Memory
11. Eternity
12. Materiality
13. Creation