About May Cause Love• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (February 14, 2017)
In this powerful memoir, a fiercely honest and surprisingly funny testament to healing after abortion, a young woman travels across the United States to meet a motley crew of spiritual teachers and a caravan of new friends.
At age nineteen, Kassi Underwood discovered she was pregnant. Broke, unwed, struggling with alcohol, and living a thousand miles away from home, she checked into an abortion clinic.
While her abortion sparked her “feminist awakening,” she also felt lost and lawless, drinking to oblivion and talking about her pregnancy with her parents, her friends, strangers-anyone.
Three years later, just when she had settled into a sober life at her dream job, the ex-boyfriend with whom she had become pregnant had a baby with someone else. She shattered. In the depths of a blinding depression, Kassi refused to believe that she would “never get over” her abortion. Inspired by rebellious women in history who used spiritual practices to attain emotional freedom, Kassi embarked on a journey of recovery after abortion-a road trip with pit stops at a Buddhist “water baby” ritual, where she learns a new way to think about lost pregnancies; a Roman Catholic retreat for abortion that turns out to be staffed with clinic picketers; a crash course in grief from a Planned Parenthood counselor; a night in a motel with a “Midwife for the Soul” who teaches her how to take up space; and a Jewish “wild woman” celebration led by a wise and zany rabbi.
Dazzling with warmth and leavened by humor, May Cause Love captures one woman’s journey of self-discovery that enraged her, changed her, and ultimately enlightened her.
• Publisher: HarperOne (February 14, 2017)
In this powerful memoir, a fiercely honest and surprisingly funny testament to healing after abortion, a young woman travels across the United States to meet a motley crew of spiritual teachers and a caravan of new friends.
At age nineteen, Kassi Underwood discovered she was pregnant. Broke, unwed, struggling with alcohol, and living a thousand miles away from home, she checked into an abortion clinic.
While her abortion sparked her “feminist awakening,” she also felt lost and lawless, drinking to oblivion and talking about her pregnancy with her parents, her friends, strangers-anyone.
Three years later, just when she had settled into a sober life at her dream job, the ex-boyfriend with whom she had become pregnant had a baby with someone else. She shattered. In the depths of a blinding depression, Kassi refused to believe that she would “never get over” her abortion. Inspired by rebellious women in history who used spiritual practices to attain emotional freedom, Kassi embarked on a journey of recovery after abortion-a road trip with pit stops at a Buddhist “water baby” ritual, where she learns a new way to think about lost pregnancies; a Roman Catholic retreat for abortion that turns out to be staffed with clinic picketers; a crash course in grief from a Planned Parenthood counselor; a night in a motel with a “Midwife for the Soul” who teaches her how to take up space; and a Jewish “wild woman” celebration led by a wise and zany rabbi.
Dazzling with warmth and leavened by humor, May Cause Love captures one woman’s journey of self-discovery that enraged her, changed her, and ultimately enlightened her.
About Kassi UnderwoodKassi Underwood grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. Her work has been published in the New York Times, The Atlantic online, The Rumpus, and Refinery29. She holds an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University, where she taught on the faculty of the Undergraduate Writing Program. She has been a guest on MSNBC and HuffPost Live, and a speaker at colleges, comedy shows, and faith communities nationwide. Kassi lectures about personal transformation, social justice, and the spirituality of abortion. She is a student at Harvard Divinity School and cohost of the podcast Spiritually Blonde.
MY REVIEW: Kristi M
5 stars
This is a powerful story of one woman’s search for healing after an abortion. Her search led her on a spiritual journey as well, one that I gather was unexpected since at the beginning she claimed to be an atheist.
I’m a therapist and have counseled many people who have suffered past traumas. This qualifies, as does any loss/grief. The author did what so many do – buried herself in her schooling and career and excelled in those areas. But as always happens, her trauma/grief caught up with her despite her best effort to get over it by burying herself in building her career. When one can no longer run from something or push it out of mind anymore, there are two choices. Let it consume you, or finally face it and heal. She chose the latter, and this is her story of healing and triumph.
Kassi tackles some of the deeper questions about abortion that many are afraid to talk about. This goes beyond what the law says is okay, beyond the political and social argument of is this right or wrong.
I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with any past trauma, guilt, grief, questions about spirituality, anyone who has emotional and spiritual healing that needs to take place.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, just an honest one. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
MY REVIEW: Kristi M
5 stars
This is a powerful story of one woman’s search for healing after an abortion. Her search led her on a spiritual journey as well, one that I gather was unexpected since at the beginning she claimed to be an atheist.
I’m a therapist and have counseled many people who have suffered past traumas. This qualifies, as does any loss/grief. The author did what so many do – buried herself in her schooling and career and excelled in those areas. But as always happens, her trauma/grief caught up with her despite her best effort to get over it by burying herself in building her career. When one can no longer run from something or push it out of mind anymore, there are two choices. Let it consume you, or finally face it and heal. She chose the latter, and this is her story of healing and triumph.
Kassi tackles some of the deeper questions about abortion that many are afraid to talk about. This goes beyond what the law says is okay, beyond the political and social argument of is this right or wrong.
I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with any past trauma, guilt, grief, questions about spirituality, anyone who has emotional and spiritual healing that needs to take place.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for writing a review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, just an honest one. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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