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Laid: A Memoir of Love, Sex, and Marriage
Sarah Gallucci spent her girlhood trying to numb the pain of abandonment and violence through drugs, booze, boys, and sex. Now pregnant and newly married, she thinks she is building a more perfect life - until the traumatic births of her two children, just over two years apart, turn everything upside down. Overwhelmed by the crushing responsibilities of motherhood and pressure of performing her “wifely duties,” she gets angry and starts to rebel. Gallucci takes matters into her own hands, offering her husband a hall pass, an invitation to sleep with other women. The hall pass gives her a break from gender expectations, allowing her to connect with herself more, but ultimately leads to more disconnection in the marriage. She keeps up appearances, even moving abroad for her husband’s job, pretending everything is fine. When the real reason behind the hall pass comes out, her marriage starts to fall apart even more - pushing love, trust, healing, freedom, and forgiveness to their absolute edge.
Laid is a raw, powerful look at how our culture traps women in the roles of wife and mother, piling on unfair physical, mental, and sexual expectations. Gallucci draws from her own life to explore what women face in today’s world - the violence they endure, the anger they hold inside and how their bodies often end up screaming it before their mouths do. Ultimately, it’s about rejecting the pressure to always be the “good woman,” “good wife,” and “good mother” to reclaim your own life and agency.
Laid is a raw, powerful look at how our culture traps women in the roles of wife and mother, piling on unfair physical, mental, and sexual expectations. Gallucci draws from her own life to explore what women face in today’s world - the violence they endure, the anger they hold inside and how their bodies often end up screaming it before their mouths do. Ultimately, it’s about rejecting the pressure to always be the “good woman,” “good wife,” and “good mother” to reclaim your own life and agency.
314 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 22, 2025
3 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 13, 2025
A raw, honest and vulnerable memoir exploring the very real ways that overt and internalized patriarchy plagues the minds of both women and men in society.
I am so proud of my friend, Sarah Gallucci for sharing her story. Through her courage, she has mirrored back some of my own experiences regarding sex and relationships and the roles we have been assigned and pressured into playing. There is a way toward deep, meaningful healing for all if we are brave enough to challenge what we've been conditioned to believe on a collective and individual level.
I am so proud of my friend, Sarah Gallucci for sharing her story. Through her courage, she has mirrored back some of my own experiences regarding sex and relationships and the roles we have been assigned and pressured into playing. There is a way toward deep, meaningful healing for all if we are brave enough to challenge what we've been conditioned to believe on a collective and individual level.
February 12, 2025
Gallucci has something to say, and she will make sure people hear it.
Her memoir, "Laid," is an eye-opening perspective on femininity and its relation to love, sex, and marriage. While these topics have been discussed by many other authors, what sets Gallucci's book apart is her raw, emotional honesty. She holds nothing back and maintains a conversational tone as if she were in the room with the reader. There are times when her writing crosses into confessional, lyrical poetry with her eye for imagery and ear for dialogue.
This memoir is not for the faint of heart. No details are spared, and it is evident that this was a painful book for the author to pen. Audiences expecting a self-help guide or a safe, feel-good story may look elsewhere, but this book is worth reading for Gallucci's fresh insights on topics we thought we all knew well. Gallucci does not always follow the popular narrative on her themes, which adds great complexity to the book. This is more than just one woman's story; it's a true exploration of what being a woman means in the 21st century, something we all need to hear regardless of who we are.
Simply put, "Laid" is a triumph.
Her memoir, "Laid," is an eye-opening perspective on femininity and its relation to love, sex, and marriage. While these topics have been discussed by many other authors, what sets Gallucci's book apart is her raw, emotional honesty. She holds nothing back and maintains a conversational tone as if she were in the room with the reader. There are times when her writing crosses into confessional, lyrical poetry with her eye for imagery and ear for dialogue.
This memoir is not for the faint of heart. No details are spared, and it is evident that this was a painful book for the author to pen. Audiences expecting a self-help guide or a safe, feel-good story may look elsewhere, but this book is worth reading for Gallucci's fresh insights on topics we thought we all knew well. Gallucci does not always follow the popular narrative on her themes, which adds great complexity to the book. This is more than just one woman's story; it's a true exploration of what being a woman means in the 21st century, something we all need to hear regardless of who we are.
Simply put, "Laid" is a triumph.
March 29, 2025
Raw, brutal, brave, real, gorgeous writing. Sarah grows up witnessing dysfunctional heteronormative relationships and goes on to get married early and have two kids back to back. She struggles with the expectation to be the perfect mother and wife and cook meals every day and be skinny and want to have sex every night. Not ever figuring out who she is or facing her past trauma, everything implodes.
May 17, 2025
I could not put this book down. Sarah writes with raw, unbridled emotion and honesty that hits the soul. Regardless of your martial status, sexual preference, whether you're a parent or not, this book is poignant and true. Read it and then share it with your friends, and then keep on sharing it.
July 31, 2025
Sarah Gallucci is fierce and brave and so is her writing.
She is not afraid to go there.
She is a force of nature.
Some parts are tough. Ouch! Eek! But far too common.
Other parts you are taken to far away places just as Italy, India, and Dubai. And there is a breeze or the smell of something exotic.
There are beautiful Italian meals she cooked. And a lot of wine. Sometimes admittedly too much.
And I love the parts where she writes for different blogs and describes the process of writing for them.
This is a story of fighting to be who you are and going there. I like these kinds of stories.
She is not afraid to go there.
She is a force of nature.
Some parts are tough. Ouch! Eek! But far too common.
Other parts you are taken to far away places just as Italy, India, and Dubai. And there is a breeze or the smell of something exotic.
There are beautiful Italian meals she cooked. And a lot of wine. Sometimes admittedly too much.
And I love the parts where she writes for different blogs and describes the process of writing for them.
This is a story of fighting to be who you are and going there. I like these kinds of stories.
December 28, 2025
Filter-free memoir that is explicit in a myriad of ways and as the subtitle of the memoir suggests it examines the intersection of love, sex and marriage. Parenthood is also part of this proverbisl four car pile up as well. Things unspoken but felt nonetheless hang overhead and eventually clash and crash in Gallucci’s life. Self indulgent but how could it not be. Ultimately a rough read for me.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews