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Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made
Not yet published
Expected 15 Sep 26From the New York Times best-selling author of Jesus and John Wayne, a revelatory history of white Christian womanhood in the United States.
In Jesus and John Wayne, a book that has changed how countless Americans understand their faith, historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez showed how evangelicals made Jesus into an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. Now she unearths the roots of the glittering, Instagram-ready culture of white Christian femininity.
Opening in the late nineteenth century, Live Laugh Love traces how New Thought, a movement that championed the power of the mind to shape reality, combined with holiness evangelicalism to create the world inhabited by millions of Christian women. Du Mez introduces us to religious innovators who taught that positivity was the secret to spiritual and material success and reveals how they worked through consumer culture: mommy blogs and romance novels, Hobby Lobby aisles and pastel-scripted wall art. Marketed as empowerment, these products and slogans elevate vulnerability and domesticity, and in the process draw women into systems prone to manipulation and abuse. In this brilliant recasting of modern American Christianity, Du Mez unearths the hidden origins of our reactionary moment.
In Jesus and John Wayne, a book that has changed how countless Americans understand their faith, historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez showed how evangelicals made Jesus into an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism. Now she unearths the roots of the glittering, Instagram-ready culture of white Christian femininity.
Opening in the late nineteenth century, Live Laugh Love traces how New Thought, a movement that championed the power of the mind to shape reality, combined with holiness evangelicalism to create the world inhabited by millions of Christian women. Du Mez introduces us to religious innovators who taught that positivity was the secret to spiritual and material success and reveals how they worked through consumer culture: mommy blogs and romance novels, Hobby Lobby aisles and pastel-scripted wall art. Marketed as empowerment, these products and slogans elevate vulnerability and domesticity, and in the process draw women into systems prone to manipulation and abuse. In this brilliant recasting of modern American Christianity, Du Mez unearths the hidden origins of our reactionary moment.
432 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication September 15, 2026
About the author
Kristin Kobes Du Mez
8 books842 followersBorn and raised in Iowa with brief sojourns in Tallahassee, FL, and Ostfriesland, Germany. PhD from the University of Notre Dame, and now I reside in Grand Rapids, MI. I have 3 kids, 1 dog, and I write on gender, religion, and politics.
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Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
For me and many others “Jesus and John Wayne” was an important and influential book, but “Live Laugh Love” somehow manages to outdo it. Kristen Kobes du Mez dives deep into the history and impact of holiness theology and the philosophy of New Thought on modern day evangelicalism. Along the way, she highlights the ideals of “the fascinating women,” the role of MLMs, purity culture, and the intertwined nature of capitalism and evangelical womanhood.
This is an incredibly well researched piece of work that manages to be utterly engaging and enraging all at the same time. The analysis of how totalising systems, the theology of holiness, and the seven mountains mandate have led to the present day strength of Christian nationalism is illuminating. The book provides a satisfying level of depth and new information even for those of us with a deep personal and academic knowledge of evangelicalism.
I can’t recommend this book more whole-heartedly!
For me and many others “Jesus and John Wayne” was an important and influential book, but “Live Laugh Love” somehow manages to outdo it. Kristen Kobes du Mez dives deep into the history and impact of holiness theology and the philosophy of New Thought on modern day evangelicalism. Along the way, she highlights the ideals of “the fascinating women,” the role of MLMs, purity culture, and the intertwined nature of capitalism and evangelical womanhood.
This is an incredibly well researched piece of work that manages to be utterly engaging and enraging all at the same time. The analysis of how totalising systems, the theology of holiness, and the seven mountains mandate have led to the present day strength of Christian nationalism is illuminating. The book provides a satisfying level of depth and new information even for those of us with a deep personal and academic knowledge of evangelicalism.
I can’t recommend this book more whole-heartedly!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
When we grow up in a particular culture, it can be difficult to see that culture; it’s like swimming in a river without noticing how the current moves us downstream. This is an excellent book that looks at the culture and influence of white American Christian women from the 1800s to today. It was so helpful to see how the past has set up the culture of the present and to understand the backgrounds and philosophies that undergird attitudes today. I hope many will read this important work and that it will make a positive impact, especially in light of the recent decisions by the Southern Baptist Convention regarding women.
Writing in her wheelhouse, New York Times best-selling author Kristin Kobes Du Mez demonstrates her knowledge and research in this book. She is a professor of History at Calvin University with a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. She researches the intersection of gender, religion, and politics and is a Senior Democracy Fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute. This book, on the history of white Christian American women and culture, complements her previous book, Jesus and John Wayne, which focused on the history of rugged, individual, manly, American Christianity.
“With its practical orientation, emphasis on lay leadership and personal testimony, and alignment with modern consumer capitalism, the holiness tradition she [Hannah Whitall Smith] helped forge [in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life] would come to define twentieth-century evangelicalism, and with it, the world of millions of white Christian women.”
“Inspirational nonfiction was ideally suited to this hybrid faith, as it allowed for selective arrangement of events to show how happiness and success would come to those who trusted and obeyed. Real life was another matter.”
“Since a man’s sense of superiority was essential to his happiness and therefore also to women’s, women who must work should choose secretarial over managerial or executive positions. Unequal pay was wholly appropriate, and women should turn earnings over to husbands to spend as they saw fit.”
“Focusing on attitude over social circumstances and history meant that the rights revolutions of the 1960s and ’70s could be framed not in terms of marginalized groups pressing for fair treatment, but rather in terms of bitter and entitled people complaining about their lot in life instead of putting in the work to succeed.”
“Like Rushdoony, [Bill] Gothard believed that the notion of rights interfered with God’s order.” “For [Doug] Wilson, patriarchy was the foundation of a God-honoring social order: ‘A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.’” “Through classical Christian schools and homeschool networks, his ‘theocratic libertarianism’ spread far beyond his Moscow base.”
“Focusing on the pioneer family not only masked violence against Indigenous peoples that scarred the nation’s past, but it also allowed women to take center stage.” “Infused with [Rose Wilder] Lane’s libertarian ideals, the iconography evoked a wholesome yearning for an imagined past in the service of a contemporary political agenda.”
“They taught that Christianity required submission to hierarchy, but submission came with a promise: Obedience secured God’s blessings including a perfect marriage, a happy family, and ‘mind-blowing’ sex. In essence, purity culture was a sexual prosperity gospel. It was also a powerful mechanism of control.” “Unlike other sins, sex outside of marriage could not be wiped clean by repentance; it ‘ruined’ a girl, turning her into ‘damaged goods. … An impure girl wasn’t just sinning; she was a danger to everyone around her.”
“So as I watched evangelical leaders find creative ways to justify their support for Trump, I was not surprised. I had seen such behavior before, time and again, as leaders covered up or minimized abuse in their own churches and restored abusers’ power.” “Holiness theology promised women that if they lived obedient, pure, submissive lives, God would bless them and men would love and protect them. Evangelical abusers and evangelical responses to abuse demonstrated that bargain to be a lie.”
“That agenda had been largely spelled out by Russell Vought and his Heritage Foundation collaborators in what they called Project 2025. … he had drawn up plans to remake America by slashing regulations, reducing spending on the poor, cutting Medicaid, restricting contraceptive coverage, politicizing the Department of Justice, and firing tens of thousands of federal workers in order to dismantle the ‘deep state’ and concentrate power in the executive branch.”
“In an interview with CNN, [Doug] Wilson shocked viewers by describing women as ‘the kind of people that people come out of’ and affirming that he wanted a theocracy in America in which women would not be allowed to vote.” “‘When people talk about turning the US into a Christian nation, it makes me quake,” she [Christa Brown] warned. ‘To ponder what that would mean for women in this country . . . I have seen what it means . . . And it is bloody awful.’”
My Thoughts
Like a game of connect the dots, du Mez introduces character after character whose stories intersect with each other and whose connections form an image depicting the pigeon-holing of women into ever more limited roles in the church and society. Some readers will find the material information and acronyms dense. It would have been nice to have an appendix with definitions and an index of all the people referenced.
I know that there will be some readers or critics who dismiss the abuse of women as exaggerations, blame victims instead of holding perpetrators accountable, and deny that complementarian/patriarchal policies cause abuse in spite of the evidence. But hopefully, many more will hear the message of this book and work to right the wrongs that have been entrenched in conservative Christian culture.
It also struck me, that like Young Earth Creationist organizations which are notorious for cherry-picking data and misleading their followers about the quantity and quality of data that conflicts with their teachings, so to have many Christian publishing companies failed to be fully honest about the lives the women like Elizabeth Elliott, Hannah Whitall Smith, and others whose voices have presented an inaccurate, rose-colored picture of the Christian trad-wife lifestyle.
It feels like many conservative Christians have been embracing a power hierarchy where white men are granted power they have not earned (and too often have abused), while women and minorities are denied freedom, abundant life in Christ, and the opportunity to use their God-given spiritual gifts and talents. This is an excellent and eye-opening book. I hope many will read it and work to reverse the harm that has already been caused to so many.
Writing in her wheelhouse, New York Times best-selling author Kristin Kobes Du Mez demonstrates her knowledge and research in this book. She is a professor of History at Calvin University with a PhD from the University of Notre Dame. She researches the intersection of gender, religion, and politics and is a Senior Democracy Fellow with the Public Religion Research Institute. This book, on the history of white Christian American women and culture, complements her previous book, Jesus and John Wayne, which focused on the history of rugged, individual, manly, American Christianity.
“With its practical orientation, emphasis on lay leadership and personal testimony, and alignment with modern consumer capitalism, the holiness tradition she [Hannah Whitall Smith] helped forge [in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life] would come to define twentieth-century evangelicalism, and with it, the world of millions of white Christian women.”
“Inspirational nonfiction was ideally suited to this hybrid faith, as it allowed for selective arrangement of events to show how happiness and success would come to those who trusted and obeyed. Real life was another matter.”
“Since a man’s sense of superiority was essential to his happiness and therefore also to women’s, women who must work should choose secretarial over managerial or executive positions. Unequal pay was wholly appropriate, and women should turn earnings over to husbands to spend as they saw fit.”
“Focusing on attitude over social circumstances and history meant that the rights revolutions of the 1960s and ’70s could be framed not in terms of marginalized groups pressing for fair treatment, but rather in terms of bitter and entitled people complaining about their lot in life instead of putting in the work to succeed.”
“Like Rushdoony, [Bill] Gothard believed that the notion of rights interfered with God’s order.” “For [Doug] Wilson, patriarchy was the foundation of a God-honoring social order: ‘A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts.’” “Through classical Christian schools and homeschool networks, his ‘theocratic libertarianism’ spread far beyond his Moscow base.”
“Focusing on the pioneer family not only masked violence against Indigenous peoples that scarred the nation’s past, but it also allowed women to take center stage.” “Infused with [Rose Wilder] Lane’s libertarian ideals, the iconography evoked a wholesome yearning for an imagined past in the service of a contemporary political agenda.”
“They taught that Christianity required submission to hierarchy, but submission came with a promise: Obedience secured God’s blessings including a perfect marriage, a happy family, and ‘mind-blowing’ sex. In essence, purity culture was a sexual prosperity gospel. It was also a powerful mechanism of control.” “Unlike other sins, sex outside of marriage could not be wiped clean by repentance; it ‘ruined’ a girl, turning her into ‘damaged goods. … An impure girl wasn’t just sinning; she was a danger to everyone around her.”
“So as I watched evangelical leaders find creative ways to justify their support for Trump, I was not surprised. I had seen such behavior before, time and again, as leaders covered up or minimized abuse in their own churches and restored abusers’ power.” “Holiness theology promised women that if they lived obedient, pure, submissive lives, God would bless them and men would love and protect them. Evangelical abusers and evangelical responses to abuse demonstrated that bargain to be a lie.”
“That agenda had been largely spelled out by Russell Vought and his Heritage Foundation collaborators in what they called Project 2025. … he had drawn up plans to remake America by slashing regulations, reducing spending on the poor, cutting Medicaid, restricting contraceptive coverage, politicizing the Department of Justice, and firing tens of thousands of federal workers in order to dismantle the ‘deep state’ and concentrate power in the executive branch.”
“In an interview with CNN, [Doug] Wilson shocked viewers by describing women as ‘the kind of people that people come out of’ and affirming that he wanted a theocracy in America in which women would not be allowed to vote.” “‘When people talk about turning the US into a Christian nation, it makes me quake,” she [Christa Brown] warned. ‘To ponder what that would mean for women in this country . . . I have seen what it means . . . And it is bloody awful.’”
My Thoughts
Like a game of connect the dots, du Mez introduces character after character whose stories intersect with each other and whose connections form an image depicting the pigeon-holing of women into ever more limited roles in the church and society. Some readers will find the material information and acronyms dense. It would have been nice to have an appendix with definitions and an index of all the people referenced.
I know that there will be some readers or critics who dismiss the abuse of women as exaggerations, blame victims instead of holding perpetrators accountable, and deny that complementarian/patriarchal policies cause abuse in spite of the evidence. But hopefully, many more will hear the message of this book and work to right the wrongs that have been entrenched in conservative Christian culture.
It also struck me, that like Young Earth Creationist organizations which are notorious for cherry-picking data and misleading their followers about the quantity and quality of data that conflicts with their teachings, so to have many Christian publishing companies failed to be fully honest about the lives the women like Elizabeth Elliott, Hannah Whitall Smith, and others whose voices have presented an inaccurate, rose-colored picture of the Christian trad-wife lifestyle.
It feels like many conservative Christians have been embracing a power hierarchy where white men are granted power they have not earned (and too often have abused), while women and minorities are denied freedom, abundant life in Christ, and the opportunity to use their God-given spiritual gifts and talents. This is an excellent and eye-opening book. I hope many will read it and work to reverse the harm that has already been caused to so many.
July 14, 2026
“Live Laugh Love is a book about love and fear, longing and greed, about Mary Kay makeup, Christian romance novels, Joyce Meyer Ministries, and Ballerina Farm. Its cast of characters includes true believers and charlatans, well-intentioned people and predators, and it is not always clear who is who. This is also a book about politics.” (KK du Mez, from the Introduction of Live, Laugh, Love)
First of all - thanks to the publisher for this free copy of the book in exchange for this review. I admit I haven’t read Jesus and John Wayne - the book she wrote on white men in evangelicalism… I was too scared. I felt too rattled by everything I was seeing and experiencing at the time and hearing the ending was pretty depressing, I didn’t have it in me. Second of all, I’m writing this as a white Canadian evangelical - so I’m both a participant and onlooker. I’ve lived or recognized all of what she writes about from the 90s on, but many aspects were not as intense or were irrelevant to my life (politics for example). Most importantly, Christianity looks different in Canada because politics was usually kept out of other pulpit unless there was something egregious going on. This has shifted in the last 10 years to look more American.
So back to the book. KK Du Mez begins the book in the mid 1800s and brought us right to the end of 2025.
The broad strokes of the book look at the confluence of New Thought and Holiness Theology, showing how these two concepts would partially define what womanhood was, and how certain key figures in the mid 1900s would refine and continue these ideas until they became deeply entrenched in white evangelical culture.
Part 1 Covers 1800s-1950s, Part 2 covers 1950s-2000s, and Part 3 covers 2000s to 2025. Part 1 felt slow at times for me partly because it was talking about a lot of people I had never heard of, but then it really picked up as we moved closer to the 1900s. There were many people I recognized that not everyone will, and certain organizations came up in the conversation more than I expected to (Campus Crusade). She spends a lot more time on some characters (Henrietta Mears and Elizabeth Elliot get a lot of pages) than others (Beth Moore’s intro was so short it almost seemed like a snub, despite her being later painted as one of the ‘good ones’). She talked way more about counter-communism measures than I expected as well.
I was disappointed by how one-sided it was with little explanation of alternative perspective, or attempt to give the benefit of the doubt to certain people. I think she mostly has it right, though is not always giving some parties as much credit as they maybe deserve. One example is the way she talks about Campus Crusade in the early years. She makes it sound like their only goal was to crush communism, but I think that’s an unfair assessment. I can’t argue that this wasn’t an aspect of the motivation (though it was news to me, despite spending 25 years of my life and counting with the organization), but I’m also confident that the organization was built on a sincere love for the God and desire to follow him. Can both of these things be true? Yes. I think it would have helped her point to show how a deep devotion to God and desire to see as many people know Jesus as possible, combined with a political agenda can lead in a troubling direction.
Another example was showing the negative side of Holiness Theology. This is a main focus of the book and, as someone whose primary experiences have been of the evangelical holiness variety, I felt left with more questions than answers. I appreciate being shown how much white evangelical culture in America is perhaps culturally influenced or influenced by a certain group of influential people, but it only feels partially helpful when no alternative is offered. It reminded me of a parenting book I read that dismantled the use of spanking and time-outs as reasonable tools for parents, and didn’t offer any solutions or direction for the parent. I finished that book feeling less equipped than I had been at the beginning!
Du Mez certainly hints at some solutions, but I think at times her hints are going to fall on deaf ears because of how hard she goes at the end of the book, again, not showing what an alternative there is. Du Mez rests her rifle on the white picket fence of America and takes shots at the gathering Girl Wash Your Face bookclub/Tupperware party. What do white American women have left if their whole value structure is full of rot?
Overall she does a really good job at showing how people like Hannah Whitall Smith, Dale Carnegie, Elizabeth Elliot, and Mary Kay have similar values than anyone might imagine, and how much free-market-capitalism was actually encouraged by key evangelical figures. It shows the problems associated with publishing houses and radio stations that are funded by random christians (as opposed to being connected to a denomination) and shows just how influential one or two very loud voices can be. As an aside, I was both rattled by and low-key proud of how much impact (damage?) one small semi-obscure Canadian Bible college has had on this entire story.
I hope many white women read this book with an open mind because it is really very interesting, even if she is trying to dismantle a large part of our culture. No culture has it all right. I hope we have (or begin to have) eyes to see the ways in which us white women can turn our backs on our friends of colour in order to protect the imagined ideal of a white picket fence--or maybe now its protecting an instagram aesthetic life.
First of all - thanks to the publisher for this free copy of the book in exchange for this review. I admit I haven’t read Jesus and John Wayne - the book she wrote on white men in evangelicalism… I was too scared. I felt too rattled by everything I was seeing and experiencing at the time and hearing the ending was pretty depressing, I didn’t have it in me. Second of all, I’m writing this as a white Canadian evangelical - so I’m both a participant and onlooker. I’ve lived or recognized all of what she writes about from the 90s on, but many aspects were not as intense or were irrelevant to my life (politics for example). Most importantly, Christianity looks different in Canada because politics was usually kept out of other pulpit unless there was something egregious going on. This has shifted in the last 10 years to look more American.
So back to the book. KK Du Mez begins the book in the mid 1800s and brought us right to the end of 2025.
The broad strokes of the book look at the confluence of New Thought and Holiness Theology, showing how these two concepts would partially define what womanhood was, and how certain key figures in the mid 1900s would refine and continue these ideas until they became deeply entrenched in white evangelical culture.
Part 1 Covers 1800s-1950s, Part 2 covers 1950s-2000s, and Part 3 covers 2000s to 2025. Part 1 felt slow at times for me partly because it was talking about a lot of people I had never heard of, but then it really picked up as we moved closer to the 1900s. There were many people I recognized that not everyone will, and certain organizations came up in the conversation more than I expected to (Campus Crusade). She spends a lot more time on some characters (Henrietta Mears and Elizabeth Elliot get a lot of pages) than others (Beth Moore’s intro was so short it almost seemed like a snub, despite her being later painted as one of the ‘good ones’). She talked way more about counter-communism measures than I expected as well.
I was disappointed by how one-sided it was with little explanation of alternative perspective, or attempt to give the benefit of the doubt to certain people. I think she mostly has it right, though is not always giving some parties as much credit as they maybe deserve. One example is the way she talks about Campus Crusade in the early years. She makes it sound like their only goal was to crush communism, but I think that’s an unfair assessment. I can’t argue that this wasn’t an aspect of the motivation (though it was news to me, despite spending 25 years of my life and counting with the organization), but I’m also confident that the organization was built on a sincere love for the God and desire to follow him. Can both of these things be true? Yes. I think it would have helped her point to show how a deep devotion to God and desire to see as many people know Jesus as possible, combined with a political agenda can lead in a troubling direction.
Another example was showing the negative side of Holiness Theology. This is a main focus of the book and, as someone whose primary experiences have been of the evangelical holiness variety, I felt left with more questions than answers. I appreciate being shown how much white evangelical culture in America is perhaps culturally influenced or influenced by a certain group of influential people, but it only feels partially helpful when no alternative is offered. It reminded me of a parenting book I read that dismantled the use of spanking and time-outs as reasonable tools for parents, and didn’t offer any solutions or direction for the parent. I finished that book feeling less equipped than I had been at the beginning!
Du Mez certainly hints at some solutions, but I think at times her hints are going to fall on deaf ears because of how hard she goes at the end of the book, again, not showing what an alternative there is. Du Mez rests her rifle on the white picket fence of America and takes shots at the gathering Girl Wash Your Face bookclub/Tupperware party. What do white American women have left if their whole value structure is full of rot?
Overall she does a really good job at showing how people like Hannah Whitall Smith, Dale Carnegie, Elizabeth Elliot, and Mary Kay have similar values than anyone might imagine, and how much free-market-capitalism was actually encouraged by key evangelical figures. It shows the problems associated with publishing houses and radio stations that are funded by random christians (as opposed to being connected to a denomination) and shows just how influential one or two very loud voices can be. As an aside, I was both rattled by and low-key proud of how much impact (damage?) one small semi-obscure Canadian Bible college has had on this entire story.
I hope many white women read this book with an open mind because it is really very interesting, even if she is trying to dismantle a large part of our culture. No culture has it all right. I hope we have (or begin to have) eyes to see the ways in which us white women can turn our backs on our friends of colour in order to protect the imagined ideal of a white picket fence--or maybe now its protecting an instagram aesthetic life.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Early in her new book, Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made, historian Kristin Kobes Du Mez gives us some context for her major history of the Christian trends that are now seeking to dominate the USA:
Du Mez totally keeps her promise of tracing those "interlocking strands" right through to this very year, including the ways Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, along with the religious publishing, marketing, and broadcasting enterprises and the phenomenon of multi-level marketing, became part of the mix.
Early in the book, Du Mez addresses her audience:
As a white male who came to Christian faith as an adult, I'm among those who have never heard of Beverly Lewis or Rebecca St. James. I was aware of the "prairie fiction" and "Amish romance" genres, of authors Janette Oke, Elisabeth Elliot, and Catherine Marshall, simply because I've worked in three different Christian bookstores, but I was completely unaware of the underlying influences and messages directed at women.
One of Du Mez's sources was Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) and her book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, published in 1875 and in print continuously since then. Despite the powerful impact of this book and Smith's public appearances, she's practically absent from histories of American religion. Being a Quaker and having worked in three Christian bookstores, I knew about her book, but what I didn't realize until reading Live Laugh Love was how Smith's book was appropriated for the purpose of creating a specific message to women: you must decide to be happy, whatever your outward circumstances; that's (more or less) the only control you have. Other parts of Smith's spiritual heritage, particularly the freedom she insisted upon to preach as a woman, and her eventual belief in universal salvation, were de-emphasized and forgotten.
Du Mez's careful study of Hannah Whitall Smith's work and influence is just one example of how she presents her many sources and the ways they influenced each other to this day, including the role of women in the Christian networks that now seek to remake the USA into a theocracy.
I found insights, references, and connections to highlight on practically every page of this book. It took over my life these last few days. Du Mez's writing is intense ... sometimes I was struck deeply by the bondages imposed on women under Christian pretenses, sometimes I cheered the Christian resistance to those bondages, but I was never bored. If you have any interest in these themes and variations of faith, politics, and culture, I can't recommend this book highly enough.
My full review is here: https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2026/05...
It was my effort to make sense of the experiences of Christian women that led me to this new account of American Christianity writ large, and ultimately, to a clearer understanding of the spiritual underpinnings of our current cultural and political landscape.
While Live Laugh Love complements Jesus and John Wayne, it presents a more complicated narrative. To trace the roots of modern Christian women’s culture, I needed to reach back to an earlier era, to the dynamic religious landscape of nineteenth-century America. I also needed to extend beyond evangelicalism to include mainline and charismatic Christianity, Mormonism, and “secular” philosophies of positive thinking.
...
Following footnotes and traveling to archives, I began to piece together a narrative almost entirely unfamiliar to me. My sources brought me to the court of Louis XVI and to the woods of upstate New York, to the Chinese mission field and along the Mormon Trail. When I ended up back on the terrain of twentieth-century evangelicalism, the familiar had become strange. By then, three interlocking strands had come into focus: Smith’s holiness evangelicalism, Mormonism, and the philosophy of New Thought.
Du Mez totally keeps her promise of tracing those "interlocking strands" right through to this very year, including the ways Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity, along with the religious publishing, marketing, and broadcasting enterprises and the phenomenon of multi-level marketing, became part of the mix.
Early in the book, Du Mez addresses her audience:
This book is for the men in the room. It is for readers who have never heard of Beverly Lewis or Rebecca St. James, for those who wouldn’t dream of buying a Thomas Kinkade print or waiting in line for a Magnolia cupcake. You have no idea what you’ve been missing. But this book is especially for the women. It is for girls who braided their hair like Laura Ingalls and tried to obey like Elisabeth Elliot. It is for women who made all the crafts and know all the songs. It is for those of us who were not pretty enough or sweet enough or white enough. It is for women who loved Beth Moore and for women who still love Beth Moore. It is for all of us.
As a white male who came to Christian faith as an adult, I'm among those who have never heard of Beverly Lewis or Rebecca St. James. I was aware of the "prairie fiction" and "Amish romance" genres, of authors Janette Oke, Elisabeth Elliot, and Catherine Marshall, simply because I've worked in three different Christian bookstores, but I was completely unaware of the underlying influences and messages directed at women.
One of Du Mez's sources was Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) and her book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, published in 1875 and in print continuously since then. Despite the powerful impact of this book and Smith's public appearances, she's practically absent from histories of American religion. Being a Quaker and having worked in three Christian bookstores, I knew about her book, but what I didn't realize until reading Live Laugh Love was how Smith's book was appropriated for the purpose of creating a specific message to women: you must decide to be happy, whatever your outward circumstances; that's (more or less) the only control you have. Other parts of Smith's spiritual heritage, particularly the freedom she insisted upon to preach as a woman, and her eventual belief in universal salvation, were de-emphasized and forgotten.
Du Mez's careful study of Hannah Whitall Smith's work and influence is just one example of how she presents her many sources and the ways they influenced each other to this day, including the role of women in the Christian networks that now seek to remake the USA into a theocracy.
I found insights, references, and connections to highlight on practically every page of this book. It took over my life these last few days. Du Mez's writing is intense ... sometimes I was struck deeply by the bondages imposed on women under Christian pretenses, sometimes I cheered the Christian resistance to those bondages, but I was never bored. If you have any interest in these themes and variations of faith, politics, and culture, I can't recommend this book highly enough.
My full review is here: https://blog.canyoubelieve.me/2026/05...
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
★★★★☆
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
After loving Jesus and John Wayne, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s latest book. It’s a compelling and meticulously researched examination of white evangelical womanhood and the cultural forces that shaped it.
One of the biggest differences I noticed is Du Mez’s approach. In Jesus and John Wayne, I often felt like she challenged readers with provocative questions from chapter to chapter. Here, she takes a quieter approach. She lays out the historical record, presents the evidence, and trusts readers to wrestle with the implications themselves. I appreciated that choice.
The first quarter of the book moved a little slowly for me, but by the end I understood why that foundation mattered. The early chapters establish the historical roots of modern evangelical womanhood before tracing how those ideas evolved through women’s ministries, Christian publishing, direct sales companies, self-help culture, and the broader evangelical marketplace.
As someone who grew up Southern Baptist, I was surprised by how many long-forgotten memories this book brought back. Time after time, I found myself thinking, “I remember that,” or “Yes, that’s exactly how it felt.” That personal recognition made the book especially engaging.
Du Mez introduces readers to an extraordinary cast of women, including Aimee Semple McPherson, Elisabeth Elliot, Phyllis Schlafly, Helen Andelin, Mary Kay Ash, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jen Hatmaker, Rachel Hollis, and many others. Together, they tell the story of a culture that promised women influence while often limiting the ways they could exercise it. The book argues that biblical womanhood frequently offered women a sense of purpose and proximity to power while ultimately reinforcing free market capitalism and Christian nationalism. Women were encouraged to pursue happiness, positivity, and self-improvement, even when those pursuits distracted from larger questions of inequality and social injustice. One of the book’s strongest insights is that faithfully following the prescribed model of biblical womanhood was never a guarantee of the life women had been promised.
The chapters on multi-level marketing and the rise of contemporary Christian music were particular highlights for me. The discussion of MLMs illustrates how evangelical women were offered the appearance of financial independence while remaining firmly within traditional expectations surrounding motherhood and domestic life. I also found the chapter on Amy Grant especially compelling, using her career to explore the complicated relationship between celebrity, purity culture, and evangelical expectations of women.
My biggest critique is that I wanted more nuance in the discussion of New Thought philosophy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Readers unfamiliar with either could come away believing they’re essentially the same, when CBT is a well-established, evidence-based therapeutic approach that differs in important ways.
I also noticed a sudden shift into first person during Chapter 13 after most of the book had been written as a traditional historical narrative. It caught me off guard at first, though I ultimately appreciated Du Mez’s willingness to include her own commentary on why she needed to revisit some stories from her previous work, particularly when discussing the physical and sexual abuse endured by women within evangelical spaces.
As this was an advance review copy, I also noticed a noticeable cluster of copyediting errors throughout the book, but particularly in the back half of Chapter 11 that will hopefully be corrected before publication.
One completely subjective note: I kept waiting for Tammy Faye Bakker to make an appearance. Given her outsized place in American evangelical culture, her absence felt surprisingly noticeable.
Overall, this is a thoughtful, well-researched work that asks readers to reconsider the cultural, economic, and political forces that shaped modern evangelical womanhood. If you appreciated Jesus and John Wayne, or if you’re interested in the intersection of religion, gender, consumer culture, and American politics, this is well worth your time. And if Kristin Kobes Du Mez ever decides to write a deep dive into James Dobson or the history of the Southern Baptist Convention, I’ll be first in line to read it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
After loving Jesus and John Wayne, I was thrilled to receive an ARC of Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s latest book. It’s a compelling and meticulously researched examination of white evangelical womanhood and the cultural forces that shaped it.
One of the biggest differences I noticed is Du Mez’s approach. In Jesus and John Wayne, I often felt like she challenged readers with provocative questions from chapter to chapter. Here, she takes a quieter approach. She lays out the historical record, presents the evidence, and trusts readers to wrestle with the implications themselves. I appreciated that choice.
The first quarter of the book moved a little slowly for me, but by the end I understood why that foundation mattered. The early chapters establish the historical roots of modern evangelical womanhood before tracing how those ideas evolved through women’s ministries, Christian publishing, direct sales companies, self-help culture, and the broader evangelical marketplace.
As someone who grew up Southern Baptist, I was surprised by how many long-forgotten memories this book brought back. Time after time, I found myself thinking, “I remember that,” or “Yes, that’s exactly how it felt.” That personal recognition made the book especially engaging.
Du Mez introduces readers to an extraordinary cast of women, including Aimee Semple McPherson, Elisabeth Elliot, Phyllis Schlafly, Helen Andelin, Mary Kay Ash, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Jen Hatmaker, Rachel Hollis, and many others. Together, they tell the story of a culture that promised women influence while often limiting the ways they could exercise it. The book argues that biblical womanhood frequently offered women a sense of purpose and proximity to power while ultimately reinforcing free market capitalism and Christian nationalism. Women were encouraged to pursue happiness, positivity, and self-improvement, even when those pursuits distracted from larger questions of inequality and social injustice. One of the book’s strongest insights is that faithfully following the prescribed model of biblical womanhood was never a guarantee of the life women had been promised.
The chapters on multi-level marketing and the rise of contemporary Christian music were particular highlights for me. The discussion of MLMs illustrates how evangelical women were offered the appearance of financial independence while remaining firmly within traditional expectations surrounding motherhood and domestic life. I also found the chapter on Amy Grant especially compelling, using her career to explore the complicated relationship between celebrity, purity culture, and evangelical expectations of women.
My biggest critique is that I wanted more nuance in the discussion of New Thought philosophy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Readers unfamiliar with either could come away believing they’re essentially the same, when CBT is a well-established, evidence-based therapeutic approach that differs in important ways.
I also noticed a sudden shift into first person during Chapter 13 after most of the book had been written as a traditional historical narrative. It caught me off guard at first, though I ultimately appreciated Du Mez’s willingness to include her own commentary on why she needed to revisit some stories from her previous work, particularly when discussing the physical and sexual abuse endured by women within evangelical spaces.
As this was an advance review copy, I also noticed a noticeable cluster of copyediting errors throughout the book, but particularly in the back half of Chapter 11 that will hopefully be corrected before publication.
One completely subjective note: I kept waiting for Tammy Faye Bakker to make an appearance. Given her outsized place in American evangelical culture, her absence felt surprisingly noticeable.
Overall, this is a thoughtful, well-researched work that asks readers to reconsider the cultural, economic, and political forces that shaped modern evangelical womanhood. If you appreciated Jesus and John Wayne, or if you’re interested in the intersection of religion, gender, consumer culture, and American politics, this is well worth your time. And if Kristin Kobes Du Mez ever decides to write a deep dive into James Dobson or the history of the Southern Baptist Convention, I’ll be first in line to read it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thanks to NetGalley & W.W. Norton for the ARC!
Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made is a peculiar follow-up to Jesus and John Wayne, applying scholarly rigor to a subject that seems just beyond its reach.
When I first read Jesus and John Wayne in 2020, it felt cathartic, almost prophetic. It was a robust and reflective piece of insider scholarship that got evangelicals and critiqued them without resentment or feel-good platitudes. It felt like real accountability. Granted, a lot has changed since 2020, but if there was ever a time for Du Mez to apply her insight to the world of Janette Oke, Erika Kirk, and tradwife influencers, it would be now.
Right?
The answer isn’t so simple.
Jesus and John Wayne felt so revelatory because it found deep connections between theology, praxis, and politics. Conversely, Live Laugh Love is almost shockingly superficial, but that doesn’t seem to be a fault of the author. She traces the influence of “New Thought” positive thinking from the 1890s through a range of topics, such as MLMs and purity culture and Amish romance, but she butts up against the fact that “positive thinking” is essentially a refusal to critically engage with the world. As such, its wholesale adoption seems so arbitrary that that it’s strikingly undramatic and resistant to analysis. While John Wayne showcased a stomach-turning, almost conspiratorial grab for political power, this book addresses a disinterest in anything but maintaining the patriarchal status quo. Jesus and John Wayne dissected an implicit argument; Live Laugh Love merely documents tacit acceptance.
Similarly, the book’s premise presents another challenge—how does one center a group whose identity is built on self-imposed marginalization? The patriarchal shadow of complementarianism looms over Live Laugh Love, and Du Mez often turns her attention away from women to focus on the men they follow. When a group’s MO is deference of the “just ask my husband” variety, readers are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time learning about husbands. Unfortunately, this also makes Live Laugh Love feel more like an addendum to Jesus and John Wayne than a standalone work of research. Granted, it’s interesting to see Du Mez pull at the same threads with half a decade of hindsight, but they feel frayed and fatigued in our current milieu. In 2020, we were looking over a tipping point. In 2026, however, Americans live and breathe the reality that the author describes, so it doesn’t feel like there are any real takeaways. This is all just another Tuesday.
By the end of the book, I wondered if scholarly work can really contend with a news cycle predicated on chaos and emotional whiplash. One gets the sense that paragraphs were being added right up until the moment of publication, and while it’s exciting to see an author so engaged, it almost dilutes the book’s thesis by offering evidence that hasn’t had time to settle. I appreciate the inclusion of stories like the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, but their immediacy precludes perspective. These “stop the presses” details also create a bit of an odd patchwork where a person or concept is introduced, seemingly dropped, and then reintroduced later to reflect recent developments.
And yet, Live Laugh Love still feels vital, even if it feels less urgent than its predecessor. It’s heartbreaking to follow the story of Elizabeth Elliot. It’s baffling to see the blurred line between faith as belief and faith as aesthetic. It’s devastating to read about incredible women who surrendered their identities to platform mediocre men. It all still resonates, and I suspect it will be eye-opening for some people deep in the evangelical subculture. Jesus and John Wayne already demanded readers reflect on their complicity, so maybe it’s enough that Live Laugh Love gently invites them out of it.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made is a peculiar follow-up to Jesus and John Wayne, applying scholarly rigor to a subject that seems just beyond its reach.
When I first read Jesus and John Wayne in 2020, it felt cathartic, almost prophetic. It was a robust and reflective piece of insider scholarship that got evangelicals and critiqued them without resentment or feel-good platitudes. It felt like real accountability. Granted, a lot has changed since 2020, but if there was ever a time for Du Mez to apply her insight to the world of Janette Oke, Erika Kirk, and tradwife influencers, it would be now.
Right?
The answer isn’t so simple.
Jesus and John Wayne felt so revelatory because it found deep connections between theology, praxis, and politics. Conversely, Live Laugh Love is almost shockingly superficial, but that doesn’t seem to be a fault of the author. She traces the influence of “New Thought” positive thinking from the 1890s through a range of topics, such as MLMs and purity culture and Amish romance, but she butts up against the fact that “positive thinking” is essentially a refusal to critically engage with the world. As such, its wholesale adoption seems so arbitrary that that it’s strikingly undramatic and resistant to analysis. While John Wayne showcased a stomach-turning, almost conspiratorial grab for political power, this book addresses a disinterest in anything but maintaining the patriarchal status quo. Jesus and John Wayne dissected an implicit argument; Live Laugh Love merely documents tacit acceptance.
Similarly, the book’s premise presents another challenge—how does one center a group whose identity is built on self-imposed marginalization? The patriarchal shadow of complementarianism looms over Live Laugh Love, and Du Mez often turns her attention away from women to focus on the men they follow. When a group’s MO is deference of the “just ask my husband” variety, readers are forced to spend an inordinate amount of time learning about husbands. Unfortunately, this also makes Live Laugh Love feel more like an addendum to Jesus and John Wayne than a standalone work of research. Granted, it’s interesting to see Du Mez pull at the same threads with half a decade of hindsight, but they feel frayed and fatigued in our current milieu. In 2020, we were looking over a tipping point. In 2026, however, Americans live and breathe the reality that the author describes, so it doesn’t feel like there are any real takeaways. This is all just another Tuesday.
By the end of the book, I wondered if scholarly work can really contend with a news cycle predicated on chaos and emotional whiplash. One gets the sense that paragraphs were being added right up until the moment of publication, and while it’s exciting to see an author so engaged, it almost dilutes the book’s thesis by offering evidence that hasn’t had time to settle. I appreciate the inclusion of stories like the deaths of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, but their immediacy precludes perspective. These “stop the presses” details also create a bit of an odd patchwork where a person or concept is introduced, seemingly dropped, and then reintroduced later to reflect recent developments.
And yet, Live Laugh Love still feels vital, even if it feels less urgent than its predecessor. It’s heartbreaking to follow the story of Elizabeth Elliot. It’s baffling to see the blurred line between faith as belief and faith as aesthetic. It’s devastating to read about incredible women who surrendered their identities to platform mediocre men. It all still resonates, and I suspect it will be eye-opening for some people deep in the evangelical subculture. Jesus and John Wayne already demanded readers reflect on their complicity, so maybe it’s enough that Live Laugh Love gently invites them out of it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It would be relatively easy to conclude that there's no reason for me to pick up Kristin Kobes Du Mez's upcoming release "Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made."
It would also be wrong.
The truth is that I identified far more than one might think with a book centered around the history of white Christian women, though admittedly my own life experience is rather unique and I am a bit of a theo-weirdo.
As someone born with significant disabilities and originally expected to survive three days, I've always had a bit of a different worldview. I've also, perhaps because I grew up surrounded by oft-female nurses, tended to resonate with female voices (writers, activists, preachers, etc.), and generally have shied away complementarian B.S.
However, I have also grown up within the world of thinly veiled prosperity theology - from a childhood in the cultish Jehovah's Witnesses to John Wimber's Vineyard movement to actually being ordained in an Indianapolis New Thought-centered church.
In short, I identified a lot with "Live Laugh Love." In fact, my only initial resistance to the book was in the semi-common ground it shares with works by Kate Bowler like "Blessed: A History of The American Prosperity Gospel" and "The Preacher’s Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities," though by the time I'd finished chapter one of "Live Laugh Love" I accurately discerned that the journey I was about to go on with Kristin Kobes Du Mez would headed down a different path narratively and academically.
Most will recognize Kristin Kobes Du Mez from her remarkable bestseller "Jesus and John Wayne," a game-changing book and a literary sibling to "Live Laugh Love." Here, Du Mez explores a world that many of us, men included but especially women, will recognize - it's a world where theological exclusion led women to build their own brand of Christianity.
Weaving a tapestry of brilliant research and precise, engaging writing, Du Mez introduces us to the Holiness Theology meets New Thought roots woven into the foundations of a myriad of familiar Christian benchmarks from Contemporary Christian Music to the Hallmark Channel, MLM to multiple lifestyle and entertain brands. It all goes back farther than you might think, the late 19th century serving as a sort of introduction point to the New Thought movement. Religious paths you might think are unrelated are, in fact, related with Du Mez's literary sharpshooting skills pointing the way through New Thought, Holiness, Mormonism, and a myriad of prosperity theology denominations.
Of course, "Live Laugh Love" doesn't just stop at pointing these truths out. Du Mez reveals the remarkably thin line between the religious and the secular, a line that markets empowerment while planting the seeds for emotional and spiritual manipulation.
"Live Laugh Love" is a convicting read. It's a book that hit me hard, revealing both my spiritual journey and what finally made me a bit of a spiritual orphan in search of something more substantial. Yet, in this politicized world we live in now with heightened religiosity, "Live Laugh Love" resonates deeply with universal truths and rich, intimate, and bridge-building storytelling.
For me, "Live Laugh Love" shed valuable light on my spiritual path and revealed both its magnetism and darkness. In so doing this, "Live Laugh Love" has helped me identify my own patterns and tendencies as I seek a different way to live into my faith that looks more like Jesus and less like Target.
It would also be wrong.
The truth is that I identified far more than one might think with a book centered around the history of white Christian women, though admittedly my own life experience is rather unique and I am a bit of a theo-weirdo.
As someone born with significant disabilities and originally expected to survive three days, I've always had a bit of a different worldview. I've also, perhaps because I grew up surrounded by oft-female nurses, tended to resonate with female voices (writers, activists, preachers, etc.), and generally have shied away complementarian B.S.
However, I have also grown up within the world of thinly veiled prosperity theology - from a childhood in the cultish Jehovah's Witnesses to John Wimber's Vineyard movement to actually being ordained in an Indianapolis New Thought-centered church.
In short, I identified a lot with "Live Laugh Love." In fact, my only initial resistance to the book was in the semi-common ground it shares with works by Kate Bowler like "Blessed: A History of The American Prosperity Gospel" and "The Preacher’s Wife: The Precarious Power of Evangelical Women Celebrities," though by the time I'd finished chapter one of "Live Laugh Love" I accurately discerned that the journey I was about to go on with Kristin Kobes Du Mez would headed down a different path narratively and academically.
Most will recognize Kristin Kobes Du Mez from her remarkable bestseller "Jesus and John Wayne," a game-changing book and a literary sibling to "Live Laugh Love." Here, Du Mez explores a world that many of us, men included but especially women, will recognize - it's a world where theological exclusion led women to build their own brand of Christianity.
Weaving a tapestry of brilliant research and precise, engaging writing, Du Mez introduces us to the Holiness Theology meets New Thought roots woven into the foundations of a myriad of familiar Christian benchmarks from Contemporary Christian Music to the Hallmark Channel, MLM to multiple lifestyle and entertain brands. It all goes back farther than you might think, the late 19th century serving as a sort of introduction point to the New Thought movement. Religious paths you might think are unrelated are, in fact, related with Du Mez's literary sharpshooting skills pointing the way through New Thought, Holiness, Mormonism, and a myriad of prosperity theology denominations.
Of course, "Live Laugh Love" doesn't just stop at pointing these truths out. Du Mez reveals the remarkably thin line between the religious and the secular, a line that markets empowerment while planting the seeds for emotional and spiritual manipulation.
"Live Laugh Love" is a convicting read. It's a book that hit me hard, revealing both my spiritual journey and what finally made me a bit of a spiritual orphan in search of something more substantial. Yet, in this politicized world we live in now with heightened religiosity, "Live Laugh Love" resonates deeply with universal truths and rich, intimate, and bridge-building storytelling.
For me, "Live Laugh Love" shed valuable light on my spiritual path and revealed both its magnetism and darkness. In so doing this, "Live Laugh Love" has helped me identify my own patterns and tendencies as I seek a different way to live into my faith that looks more like Jesus and less like Target.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Alright, let's be honest. You read the entire title for Live Laugh Love by Kristin Kobes Du Mez and probably had feelings. Let me go ahead and cut to the chase and answer what I believe each audience might ask.
I am a devout Evangelical. Is this book just some trashy and targeted takedown of my sincerely held beliefs by taking things out of context?
Absolutely not. Du Mez does not write a hateful screed about Evangelicals. She doesn't attribute everything bad on earth to Evangelicals. That said, you're probably not going to like this book for reasons in my next answer.
I am an Exvangelical. I think the country is going to hell in a handbasket because of this strain of religion. Will I be happy?
No, probably not completely. Du Mez keeps her writing factual and devoid of personal opinion. However, what she chooses to include and the connections she makes says oodles about what side of the fence she would land on if she gave her honest opinion.
I'm none of the above. I want a book that tells me why some things on social media seem strangely coded. What about me?
Ding ding ding! You are the optimal audience for this book and will enjoy it immensely. The other groups might still like it, but your lack of familiarity (or some might say baggage) with the subject means you will get a lot out of this.
Du Mez goes way back in time to show how, specifically, White Christian women of a certain persuasion would create something like the phrase, "Live, Laugh, Love" and make it impossible to miss. As with anything that covers a possibly controversial topic, people may argue about how all these pieces come together. Maybe something like Little House on the Prairie didn't mean as much to the Evangelical movement as Du Mez attributes. However, this is not a hit piece with outlandish connections. I will say that it starts slow. Du Mez needs to condense quite a bit of theology and characters to create the foundation for the rest of the book. Du Mez explains in the introduction that she intended to make a lighter narrative than her previous book, but soon realized she needed to add a lot more. The beginning feels like having to eat your vegetables before your steak. We all know what we want to get to, but the vegetables are important. Blech.
In the end, this is a good book, but be honest about which audience you are and how much you want your worldview challenged (if any).
(This book was provided as a review copy by Liveright Books.)
I am a devout Evangelical. Is this book just some trashy and targeted takedown of my sincerely held beliefs by taking things out of context?
Absolutely not. Du Mez does not write a hateful screed about Evangelicals. She doesn't attribute everything bad on earth to Evangelicals. That said, you're probably not going to like this book for reasons in my next answer.
I am an Exvangelical. I think the country is going to hell in a handbasket because of this strain of religion. Will I be happy?
No, probably not completely. Du Mez keeps her writing factual and devoid of personal opinion. However, what she chooses to include and the connections she makes says oodles about what side of the fence she would land on if she gave her honest opinion.
I'm none of the above. I want a book that tells me why some things on social media seem strangely coded. What about me?
Ding ding ding! You are the optimal audience for this book and will enjoy it immensely. The other groups might still like it, but your lack of familiarity (or some might say baggage) with the subject means you will get a lot out of this.
Du Mez goes way back in time to show how, specifically, White Christian women of a certain persuasion would create something like the phrase, "Live, Laugh, Love" and make it impossible to miss. As with anything that covers a possibly controversial topic, people may argue about how all these pieces come together. Maybe something like Little House on the Prairie didn't mean as much to the Evangelical movement as Du Mez attributes. However, this is not a hit piece with outlandish connections. I will say that it starts slow. Du Mez needs to condense quite a bit of theology and characters to create the foundation for the rest of the book. Du Mez explains in the introduction that she intended to make a lighter narrative than her previous book, but soon realized she needed to add a lot more. The beginning feels like having to eat your vegetables before your steak. We all know what we want to get to, but the vegetables are important. Blech.
In the end, this is a good book, but be honest about which audience you are and how much you want your worldview challenged (if any).
(This book was provided as a review copy by Liveright Books.)
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
“The was suppose to be the fun book.” Only the second paragraph in and I knew I was in for a ride. When I read a book like this I always feel compelled to give my credentials: I was homeschooled, I spent most of my life in a southern baptist church (the rest in presby-churches), and I live in the Bible Belt. Though I’ve read Jesus and John Wayne, I felt like someone on the outside looking in, recognizing things but never quite feeling like they touched my life in any drastic way. This book hit a lot closer to home and really shocked me at times (it is very hard to shock me anymore), I confess letting out a few expletives.
Something pervasive throughout this history was the influence of New Thought: a movement that pushed the idea of “right-thinking” that can heal, bless, and change a persons life for the better. Now we may call it “Word of Faith” or “Prosperity Gospel.” Out of that came books like the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, the Power of the Positive Woman by Phyllis Schlafly, and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie just to name a few. The thinking was that if you just gave up and submitted to God (or to those above you who “represented” God) and thought positively, you would be healthy, wealthy and wise. Finally living the promised happy life. If you weren’t blessed with the desires of your heart, well, it was your fault for being lazy and negative.
This book covers many more pieces of history like Christian marketing of books and TV shows (Janet Oke novels and Little House on the Prairie), Contemporary Christian Music artists (Amy Grant, Stacie Orrico, Etc), Multi-Level Marketing schemes, Hallmark, and Christian women influencers like Elisabeth Elliot, who was “as close as one could come to evangelical sainthood.” Through recent biographies of Elliot, we find that much of her work came out during her third marriage to an abusive and controlling man. Even when her family tried to help her, Elliot stayed with her husband. Believing that “submission to her husband was obedience to God.” This wasn’t just Elliot’s message. Marabel Morgan, Anita Bryant, and Hannah Whitall Smith all preached a similar message to their ladies. Although is was much easier to preach submission than to live it as Bryant found out. Her husband/manager, pastor, marriage councilor, and all-male board, tried to control her money, engagements and events. When she fought them they threatened her. Bryant finally divorced her husband and the world she built came tumbling down around her. A woman who didn’t follow the rules couldn’t be trusted.
My kindle says that I highlighted 353 passages in this book. It was such a fascinating and horrifying history that, had I read a hard copy, the whole book may now be highlighted. In my opinion, like with Jesus and John Wayne, this is a must read for the church.
Something pervasive throughout this history was the influence of New Thought: a movement that pushed the idea of “right-thinking” that can heal, bless, and change a persons life for the better. Now we may call it “Word of Faith” or “Prosperity Gospel.” Out of that came books like the Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, the Power of the Positive Woman by Phyllis Schlafly, and How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie just to name a few. The thinking was that if you just gave up and submitted to God (or to those above you who “represented” God) and thought positively, you would be healthy, wealthy and wise. Finally living the promised happy life. If you weren’t blessed with the desires of your heart, well, it was your fault for being lazy and negative.
This book covers many more pieces of history like Christian marketing of books and TV shows (Janet Oke novels and Little House on the Prairie), Contemporary Christian Music artists (Amy Grant, Stacie Orrico, Etc), Multi-Level Marketing schemes, Hallmark, and Christian women influencers like Elisabeth Elliot, who was “as close as one could come to evangelical sainthood.” Through recent biographies of Elliot, we find that much of her work came out during her third marriage to an abusive and controlling man. Even when her family tried to help her, Elliot stayed with her husband. Believing that “submission to her husband was obedience to God.” This wasn’t just Elliot’s message. Marabel Morgan, Anita Bryant, and Hannah Whitall Smith all preached a similar message to their ladies. Although is was much easier to preach submission than to live it as Bryant found out. Her husband/manager, pastor, marriage councilor, and all-male board, tried to control her money, engagements and events. When she fought them they threatened her. Bryant finally divorced her husband and the world she built came tumbling down around her. A woman who didn’t follow the rules couldn’t be trusted.
My kindle says that I highlighted 353 passages in this book. It was such a fascinating and horrifying history that, had I read a hard copy, the whole book may now be highlighted. In my opinion, like with Jesus and John Wayne, this is a must read for the church.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for providing me with an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
“Live Laugh Love” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a well-researched and thought-provoking book. Du Mez explains that after writing "Jesus and John Wayne", she initially intended to write a lighter book about Christian women's culture ... Christian romance novels, Hallmark movies, "Fixer Upper", homemaking blogs, and women's conferences. But as she dug deeper, she discovered that these seemingly harmless cultural products were connected to much larger questions of authority, gender, power, and politics.
The result is an insightful examination of some of the cultural forces that helped bring us to where we are today. "Live Laugh Love" argues that twentieth-century evangelical women's culture was never merely about decorating homes, improving marriages, raising children, or cultivating personal faith. Beneath the surface lay a powerful network of ideas about happiness, authority, gender, success, capitalism, and national identity. Beginning with Hannah Whitall Smith's promise of happiness through surrender and ending with Christian nationalism in the Trump era, Du Mez traces how these ideas shaped generations of women and modern American evangelicalism.
Those who have spent time in evangelical culture may recognize many of the influences she describes, including the role of multi-level marketing, the commercialization of faith, and the gatekeeping surrounding figures such as Elisabeth Elliot when aspects of their views did not fit accepted narratives.
Du Mez concludes that the same cultural currents that produced “Live Laugh Love” spirituality also helped create the conditions for Christian nationalism and authoritarian politics. The book culminates in an unsettling final chapter that invites readers to reflect on how seemingly ordinary cultural practices can have far-reaching consequences.
"Live Laugh Love" offers a compelling and important examination of the ideas, institutions, and assumptions that have shaped evangelical culture over the last century. It is an illuminating read for anyone seeking to better understand the intersection of faith, culture, gender, and politics in modern America.
“Live Laugh Love” by Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a well-researched and thought-provoking book. Du Mez explains that after writing "Jesus and John Wayne", she initially intended to write a lighter book about Christian women's culture ... Christian romance novels, Hallmark movies, "Fixer Upper", homemaking blogs, and women's conferences. But as she dug deeper, she discovered that these seemingly harmless cultural products were connected to much larger questions of authority, gender, power, and politics.
The result is an insightful examination of some of the cultural forces that helped bring us to where we are today. "Live Laugh Love" argues that twentieth-century evangelical women's culture was never merely about decorating homes, improving marriages, raising children, or cultivating personal faith. Beneath the surface lay a powerful network of ideas about happiness, authority, gender, success, capitalism, and national identity. Beginning with Hannah Whitall Smith's promise of happiness through surrender and ending with Christian nationalism in the Trump era, Du Mez traces how these ideas shaped generations of women and modern American evangelicalism.
Those who have spent time in evangelical culture may recognize many of the influences she describes, including the role of multi-level marketing, the commercialization of faith, and the gatekeeping surrounding figures such as Elisabeth Elliot when aspects of their views did not fit accepted narratives.
Du Mez concludes that the same cultural currents that produced “Live Laugh Love” spirituality also helped create the conditions for Christian nationalism and authoritarian politics. The book culminates in an unsettling final chapter that invites readers to reflect on how seemingly ordinary cultural practices can have far-reaching consequences.
"Live Laugh Love" offers a compelling and important examination of the ideas, institutions, and assumptions that have shaped evangelical culture over the last century. It is an illuminating read for anyone seeking to better understand the intersection of faith, culture, gender, and politics in modern America.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
While this book may seem merely like a circa early 2000s evangelical “for girls/women” edition of Jesus and John Wayne, it is in fact a unique synthesis of over a century of modern evangelical history through the perspective of women within it. Its metanarrative reveals the many connections between women’s lived realities and the making of evangelical history, implicitly demonstrating women’s power as agents in forming American evangelicalism. The deeply integrative and less rigidly defined aspects of a women’s history may challenge those that prefer more masculinized interpretations of history, ironically very prevalent within historical studies of the Christian Church despite it being an institution traditionally understood to have a distinctively feminine nature. The ecumenical nature of this history was one of this book’s strengths as well as its careful tracing of core beliefs and ideas that have frequently resurfaced throughout the evolution of evangelical thought. The psychological complexities of the portrait of white Christian women was at times left for readers to attempt to decipher amidst the seemingly contradictory themes of prosperity thinking, self-sabotaging, and abuse dynamics. However, the stories of evangelical women caught up as victims and also enablers of the same persistent patterns of deception and abuse quite clearly portrays the unfolding horrors of evangelicalism. While the book doesn’t attempt to provide many solutions to the crises it describes, the sobering reflections within this book could help white Christian women to redirect towards embodying a more self aware and emotionally honest presence, recognizing the harm that has been done when their trauma complexes derived from abusive faith systems has impacted their treatment of others and their contributions to American culture. Furthermore, if seemingly mundane actions like participating in MLM schemes, reading historically inaccurate romance books, and watching reels of trad wives making sourdough bread are actions of women which have become associated with the downward spiral of American evangelicalism, there are likely many creative, hidden actions which could redirect its future towards more positive ends.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Following up on her excellent book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Du Mez has given us another smashing examination of how this same religion gave us the view on what white Christian women should be.
The book is an historical exploration of the roots of the New Thought movement that “championed the power of the mind to shape reality,” along with holiness. We are introduced to Christian innovators who “taught that positivity is the secret to success” and the books they produced that allowed these ideas to seep into religious thought even up today with mommy blogs and Christian romances.
Some things that struck me as I read were interesting such as how one woman innovator, Elizabeth Towne, wrote that “there was no better thing than to make money” - which to me in my understanding of Jesus’s message seems counterintuitive theologically (but I’m no theologian) - and points to why greed today is such an inordinate need in our times. Another innovator (whose name I didn’t write down) wrote that an ideal Christian woman must be “seductive but pure, attractive and unassuming.” This was part of an examination on how these religions turned women from into following God’s word to following men’s. Such a sad commentary on how women are reduced to objectification!
Two things I love about Du Mez’s books are how readable and captivating they are. They are page turners, especially for this one as you know without questioning the history that’s being written about is going to come together for the big reveal: truth! I also enjoy how she researches her topic - that adds to the arguments she makes and speaks to the authenticity of her message.
I loved this book so much I bought a copy so I can re-read as I’ve done her earlier book. Highly recommend.
I want to thank NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for granting me access to this extraordinary ARC.
The book is an historical exploration of the roots of the New Thought movement that “championed the power of the mind to shape reality,” along with holiness. We are introduced to Christian innovators who “taught that positivity is the secret to success” and the books they produced that allowed these ideas to seep into religious thought even up today with mommy blogs and Christian romances.
Some things that struck me as I read were interesting such as how one woman innovator, Elizabeth Towne, wrote that “there was no better thing than to make money” - which to me in my understanding of Jesus’s message seems counterintuitive theologically (but I’m no theologian) - and points to why greed today is such an inordinate need in our times. Another innovator (whose name I didn’t write down) wrote that an ideal Christian woman must be “seductive but pure, attractive and unassuming.” This was part of an examination on how these religions turned women from into following God’s word to following men’s. Such a sad commentary on how women are reduced to objectification!
Two things I love about Du Mez’s books are how readable and captivating they are. They are page turners, especially for this one as you know without questioning the history that’s being written about is going to come together for the big reveal: truth! I also enjoy how she researches her topic - that adds to the arguments she makes and speaks to the authenticity of her message.
I loved this book so much I bought a copy so I can re-read as I’ve done her earlier book. Highly recommend.
I want to thank NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for granting me access to this extraordinary ARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made" by
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is fantastic companion book to her previous historical work "Jesus and John Wayne."
"Live Laugh Love" focuses more narrowly on the evolution of the Protestant evangelical sub-culture for white women. Du Mez expertly weaves together a LOT of separate stories spanning a few hundred years into a reflective picture on where we are today.
Beginning with with Holiness Theology in the 1830's and working forward we see how New Thought (positivity) shapes the evolution of the Prosperity Gospel. Interconnecting to this the origins of evangelical Purity Culture and spending a good bit of time on Elisabeth Elliot's story. She adds in a strong layer on capitalism, especially through direct sales/MLM's, and highlights the pure Libertarianism of frontier mythology novels such as the Little House on the Prairie books and other books in that genre.
I can't do it justice in the space I have, but the book finishes up in the present with a whirlwind of names familiar to me such as Jen Hatmaker, Rachel Held Evans, Sarah Bessey, Latasha Morrison, but not neglecting MAGA movement leaders such as Kristi Noem, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and more.
Even the chapter titles were very apt. I particularly enjoyed the title "Holy Crap." Well played!
All in all this is an important book to read. As I mentioned previously I think this is an important companion to the story she told in "Jesus and John Wayne" which is also an excellent book I recommend reading to get a full picture on how we entered the point we are at today with the evangelical church and culture in America.
I'm grateful to W. W. Norton & Company for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is fantastic companion book to her previous historical work "Jesus and John Wayne."
"Live Laugh Love" focuses more narrowly on the evolution of the Protestant evangelical sub-culture for white women. Du Mez expertly weaves together a LOT of separate stories spanning a few hundred years into a reflective picture on where we are today.
Beginning with with Holiness Theology in the 1830's and working forward we see how New Thought (positivity) shapes the evolution of the Prosperity Gospel. Interconnecting to this the origins of evangelical Purity Culture and spending a good bit of time on Elisabeth Elliot's story. She adds in a strong layer on capitalism, especially through direct sales/MLM's, and highlights the pure Libertarianism of frontier mythology novels such as the Little House on the Prairie books and other books in that genre.
I can't do it justice in the space I have, but the book finishes up in the present with a whirlwind of names familiar to me such as Jen Hatmaker, Rachel Held Evans, Sarah Bessey, Latasha Morrison, but not neglecting MAGA movement leaders such as Kristi Noem, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and more.
Even the chapter titles were very apt. I particularly enjoyed the title "Holy Crap." Well played!
All in all this is an important book to read. As I mentioned previously I think this is an important companion to the story she told in "Jesus and John Wayne" which is also an excellent book I recommend reading to get a full picture on how we entered the point we are at today with the evangelical church and culture in America.
I'm grateful to W. W. Norton & Company for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
July 10, 2026
Live Laugh Love is Kristin Kobes Du Mez's follow-up to Jesus and John Wayne, and it turns her attention from evangelical masculinity to the world of white Christian womanhood. Opening in the late nineteenth century, she traces how New Thought, the belief that the mind can shape reality, fused with holiness evangelicalism to produce the pastel, Instagram-ready culture that surrounds so many Christian women today. The through line runs from Hannah Whitall Smith to Marabel Morgan's "Total Woman" to modern tradwives, and it connects everything from mommy blogs and romance novels to Mary Kay, Tupperware, and the aisles of Hobby Lobby. As history, it is well researched and often eye-opening, showing how positivity and self-help became tools that kept women dependent while marketing that dependence as empowerment.
Where the book shines is its portrait gallery of specific women. Du Mez builds much of the story around individual figures, many of whom I was only vaguely familiar with, and she has a gift for making their lives vivid. That approach is also the book's biggest limitation for me. With so many personal stories stacked one after another, I kept waiting for a single unifying theme or argument to pull them together, and it never quite arrived. The result reads more like a rich guided tour through the history of women and the church than a book building toward one clear message.
Overall this is a strong, absorbing read, and anyone interested in the roots of American Christian culture will find a lot to sit with here. I did not find it quite as gripping or as tightly argued as Jesus and John Wayne, which had a sharper central thesis. Even so, it is a worthwhile journey through a history that shapes far more of the present than most of us notice, and I am glad I read it.
Where the book shines is its portrait gallery of specific women. Du Mez builds much of the story around individual figures, many of whom I was only vaguely familiar with, and she has a gift for making their lives vivid. That approach is also the book's biggest limitation for me. With so many personal stories stacked one after another, I kept waiting for a single unifying theme or argument to pull them together, and it never quite arrived. The result reads more like a rich guided tour through the history of women and the church than a book building toward one clear message.
Overall this is a strong, absorbing read, and anyone interested in the roots of American Christian culture will find a lot to sit with here. I did not find it quite as gripping or as tightly argued as Jesus and John Wayne, which had a sharper central thesis. Even so, it is a worthwhile journey through a history that shapes far more of the present than most of us notice, and I am glad I read it.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Having read "Jesus and John Wayne" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez, I knew "Live Laugh Love" would be a must-read for me. You could read either one of these books first, but definitely be sure to read both.
There is so much history packed into this book that I highlighted more than 300 sections, bookmarked 17 pages, and took 27 pages of separate notes. I am glad I have the notes, but look forward to being able to link the historical timeline together better when the physical copy is available. I am hoping there is an index included in the physical book.
For many of us who have experience in the world of Christian women, there seems to be a mystery about how things evolved. How and why did Christian women become willingly dominated and controlled? Kristin Kobes Du Mez did an amazing amount of research to find all the pieces of the puzzle and then put them together. She explains the surprising connections and merging together of different movements. She shows how the new thought movement, along with positive thinking, blended with holiness evangelicalism over time until it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. I was surprised at how many women were involved through the years to keep women joyfully submissive. The truth about some of these women leaders is shocking. Read about Hannah Whitall Smith, Marabel Morgan, Elizabeth Elliot, and so many other women who had an incredible influence on American Christian women.
Reading this book has left me with a feeling of sadness. Kristin Kobes Du Mez shows the many ways women themselves promoted Patriarchy and tried to stamp out any resistance to submission.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made: by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
This review is completely my own opinion.
There is so much history packed into this book that I highlighted more than 300 sections, bookmarked 17 pages, and took 27 pages of separate notes. I am glad I have the notes, but look forward to being able to link the historical timeline together better when the physical copy is available. I am hoping there is an index included in the physical book.
For many of us who have experience in the world of Christian women, there seems to be a mystery about how things evolved. How and why did Christian women become willingly dominated and controlled? Kristin Kobes Du Mez did an amazing amount of research to find all the pieces of the puzzle and then put them together. She explains the surprising connections and merging together of different movements. She shows how the new thought movement, along with positive thinking, blended with holiness evangelicalism over time until it was difficult to distinguish one from the other. I was surprised at how many women were involved through the years to keep women joyfully submissive. The truth about some of these women leaders is shocking. Read about Hannah Whitall Smith, Marabel Morgan, Elizabeth Elliot, and so many other women who had an incredible influence on American Christian women.
Reading this book has left me with a feeling of sadness. Kristin Kobes Du Mez shows the many ways women themselves promoted Patriarchy and tried to stamp out any resistance to submission.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of Live Laugh Love: The Secret History of White Christian Women and the World They Made: by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
This review is completely my own opinion.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
This took me slightly longer to get through than I anticipated, but that was mostly due to the formatting of the e-reader instead of the content. Once I settled in, the text was historically dense but approachable, and entirely fascinating. And more often than not, stomach-turning.
It's hard not to dive into my personal experiences with the content as a woman raised up in MacArthur's calvinist attitudes in the 2000s and Hillsong's heights of evangelical popularity in the 2010s, rather than simply provide an evaluation of the book itself. Du Mez's writing highlights the histories and motivations of various women as each iteration whittles away a little bit more personhood in the aim of producing a properly polished and pleasing Christian woman.
I agree with other reviewers that this book does spend a great deal of time focused on prosperity gospel and the American church's tight-knit history with capitalism. However, given that women's submission was often suggested to be the linchpin of "wealth" (whether of holiness, happiness, or material gains), or today's tradwives with a quiverfull of babies on their hips promoting brand deals to their online audiences, I understood its prominent inclusion in the narrative of white Christian womanhood. Big on gilded cages.
The final chapter is breath-taking, and Du Mez was right to warn in the introduction that Live, Laugh, Love does not leave us in a hopeful place. But I'm hoping anyway (ha) that this incredibly thoughtful, distressing addition to her bibliography inspires action and reflection. As always, Rachel Held Evans, you remain an immense loss.
I cannot wait to attack a physical copy of this book with a highlighter.
This took me slightly longer to get through than I anticipated, but that was mostly due to the formatting of the e-reader instead of the content. Once I settled in, the text was historically dense but approachable, and entirely fascinating. And more often than not, stomach-turning.
It's hard not to dive into my personal experiences with the content as a woman raised up in MacArthur's calvinist attitudes in the 2000s and Hillsong's heights of evangelical popularity in the 2010s, rather than simply provide an evaluation of the book itself. Du Mez's writing highlights the histories and motivations of various women as each iteration whittles away a little bit more personhood in the aim of producing a properly polished and pleasing Christian woman.
I agree with other reviewers that this book does spend a great deal of time focused on prosperity gospel and the American church's tight-knit history with capitalism. However, given that women's submission was often suggested to be the linchpin of "wealth" (whether of holiness, happiness, or material gains), or today's tradwives with a quiverfull of babies on their hips promoting brand deals to their online audiences, I understood its prominent inclusion in the narrative of white Christian womanhood. Big on gilded cages.
The final chapter is breath-taking, and Du Mez was right to warn in the introduction that Live, Laugh, Love does not leave us in a hopeful place. But I'm hoping anyway (ha) that this incredibly thoughtful, distressing addition to her bibliography inspires action and reflection. As always, Rachel Held Evans, you remain an immense loss.
I cannot wait to attack a physical copy of this book with a highlighter.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a follow up to her book "Jesus and John Wayne". Kristin Kobes Du Mez reviews the history of (mostly) white Christian woman from the 1850s to 2025 and explains how we ended up with the current evangelical ideal of Christian femininity. She starts with Hannah Whitehall Smith, author of "The Christian's Secret of the Happy Life" and concludes with Erika Kirk. She explains the rise in Holiness Theology and New Thought: the idea that submission to God and obedience brings blessing and that right thinking will bring happiness. She shows how this has morphed into gender hierarchy, traditional gender roles and Christian nationalism. Along the way there are stories about the women involved in the rise of Christian publishing (marriage manuals like The Total Women", and Christian romance fiction), the backlash to the feminist movement, contemporary Christian music, multi-level marketing, purity culture, bloggers, social media influencers and finally the forces that led to the evangelical support of Trump.
This is a meticulously researched book. I got bogged down during the first half trying to keep track of all the different characters and religious philosophies. Once I got to the late 60's and beyond, I enjoyed reading about history that I remember from my life and learning some back stories that I didn't know. I honestly finished this book discouraged at the state of Christianity in our country but that's not the author's fault. That's our situation right now. The author does an excellent job of explaining the forces that got us here.
Thank you to Net Galley for the e-ARC
This is a meticulously researched book. I got bogged down during the first half trying to keep track of all the different characters and religious philosophies. Once I got to the late 60's and beyond, I enjoyed reading about history that I remember from my life and learning some back stories that I didn't know. I honestly finished this book discouraged at the state of Christianity in our country but that's not the author's fault. That's our situation right now. The author does an excellent job of explaining the forces that got us here.
Thank you to Net Galley for the e-ARC
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This is a great follow-up to her first book "Jesus and John Wayne" What the author did in JJW by studying the historical background to masculinity in Christianity and culture, she now does by addressing femininity in LLL. This book pulls together threads from history regarding the treatment and role of women in Christianity and how that is inextricably woven into secular and political realms. We read about very diverse people from Elizabeth Elliott to Beth Moore. Topics such as the prosperity gospel, MLMs, Christian books & music, purity culture, and media influencers such as the Hallmark channel and reality TV stars such as the Duggers, and Chip & Joanna Gaines have all influenced Christian women for the good and bad.
I will say that part 1 was a little slow as it covers Church history starting in the 1800s. But I was born in 1961 so everything from part 2 onward, I have lived. It is interesting to see this planned effort throughout history on how to "manage" women in the church and greater culture. The theme seems to be that women were allowed to have just enough power to convince other women that they needed to submit to the authority of their husbands, pastors and all men in general. Sometimes it was subtle, sometimes overt. I am embarrassed to say that I fell for some of these tactics and I am angry that other women have been complicit in advancing these men's agendas. But as I read books like these, I feel more prepared to identify these power tactics and call them out.
Thank you to Netgalley and WW Norton for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I will say that part 1 was a little slow as it covers Church history starting in the 1800s. But I was born in 1961 so everything from part 2 onward, I have lived. It is interesting to see this planned effort throughout history on how to "manage" women in the church and greater culture. The theme seems to be that women were allowed to have just enough power to convince other women that they needed to submit to the authority of their husbands, pastors and all men in general. Sometimes it was subtle, sometimes overt. I am embarrassed to say that I fell for some of these tactics and I am angry that other women have been complicit in advancing these men's agendas. But as I read books like these, I feel more prepared to identify these power tactics and call them out.
Thank you to Netgalley and WW Norton for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
July 5, 2026
I always secretly viewed my passion for crafting, sewing, and scrapbooking as a noble pursuit. Little did I know, there was a massive cultural push within the Protestant evangelical subculture specifically targeting middle-class white women like myself. This book opened my eyes!
It basically mapped out my own life until around 2016. I raised my family in a small Midwestern community with a church on every corner (still live there). I lived through the exact trends detailed in these pages—from Creative Memories and Proverbs 31 ministries to Home Interiors and Mary Kay—all while devouring most fiction books by Janette Oke and Beverly Lewis. Reading this felt like looking into a cultural mirror.
Meticulously researched, Live Laugh Love is a deep dive into the politics of the religion behind these trends. We are introduced to Holiness Theology and New Thought and how they influenced the creation of the Prosperity Gospel and Purity Culture. The first part leans into a lot of history, and can feel a bit dry, but the background is important. Once I got to the 1950's and beyond, the pacing shifted for me and I flew through the book! It is a captivating, insightful read, and as someone who has since left that expression of Christianity, I found it deeply validating on a personal level.
Thank you to NetGalley and WW Norton for this ARC. The review and opinions are my own.
It basically mapped out my own life until around 2016. I raised my family in a small Midwestern community with a church on every corner (still live there). I lived through the exact trends detailed in these pages—from Creative Memories and Proverbs 31 ministries to Home Interiors and Mary Kay—all while devouring most fiction books by Janette Oke and Beverly Lewis. Reading this felt like looking into a cultural mirror.
Meticulously researched, Live Laugh Love is a deep dive into the politics of the religion behind these trends. We are introduced to Holiness Theology and New Thought and how they influenced the creation of the Prosperity Gospel and Purity Culture. The first part leans into a lot of history, and can feel a bit dry, but the background is important. Once I got to the 1950's and beyond, the pacing shifted for me and I flew through the book! It is a captivating, insightful read, and as someone who has since left that expression of Christianity, I found it deeply validating on a personal level.
Thank you to NetGalley and WW Norton for this ARC. The review and opinions are my own.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It took me a while to know what I wanted to say about Life Laugh Love.
I finished Jesus and John Wayne on January 6th, 2021, and it felt as if what I was watching on television was the result of everything that book was building to. I told folks that nothing in that book was a surprise to me, and none of it was new, but I appreciated how she'd woven the story together.
Live Laugh Love was different - the first half(ish) is slow as Du Mez is putting together some of the less obvious narratives. Where Jesus and John Wayne was urgent, this felt more methodical. The thing is, this book is about white Christian women's culture, so a lot of it is less visible and much of it still had to center around men. I still found plenty of my girlhood in its pages, though. Throughout, you see how white evangelical Christian women are set up to fail when they can't reach the standard of cheerful perfection and are consumed and used up in pursuit of that goal.
There were occasionally things that I'd think, "Why didn't she include _____," and then she would include it a few pages or chapters later. This is a very thorough account of how white women are complicit victims in our current moment.
I finished Jesus and John Wayne on January 6th, 2021, and it felt as if what I was watching on television was the result of everything that book was building to. I told folks that nothing in that book was a surprise to me, and none of it was new, but I appreciated how she'd woven the story together.
Live Laugh Love was different - the first half(ish) is slow as Du Mez is putting together some of the less obvious narratives. Where Jesus and John Wayne was urgent, this felt more methodical. The thing is, this book is about white Christian women's culture, so a lot of it is less visible and much of it still had to center around men. I still found plenty of my girlhood in its pages, though. Throughout, you see how white evangelical Christian women are set up to fail when they can't reach the standard of cheerful perfection and are consumed and used up in pursuit of that goal.
There were occasionally things that I'd think, "Why didn't she include _____," and then she would include it a few pages or chapters later. This is a very thorough account of how white women are complicit victims in our current moment.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Net Galley, Kristin Kobes Du Mez and the publisher for my ARC! While her last book, Jesus and John Wayne, was an influential eye-opening book for me, she has outdone herself with this one.
Kobes Du Mez manages to provide an thoroughly researched history of holiness theology, New Thought philosophy, and the impacts of those on today's evangelical churches. Beyond that history though she weaves together various strands of evangelical subculture (that might otherwise seem unconnected) -- purity culture (Josh Harris / Elizabeth Elliott), MLMs, Christian publishing, the Contemporary Christian music scene, the capitalistic impact of those industries, #tradwife influencers and more.
In the end, she successfully argues that these systems, theologies and products created an environment where Americans became susceptible to and even accepting of/submissive to Christian Nationalism and Authoritarianism.
Kobes Du Mez manages to provide an thoroughly researched history of holiness theology, New Thought philosophy, and the impacts of those on today's evangelical churches. Beyond that history though she weaves together various strands of evangelical subculture (that might otherwise seem unconnected) -- purity culture (Josh Harris / Elizabeth Elliott), MLMs, Christian publishing, the Contemporary Christian music scene, the capitalistic impact of those industries, #tradwife influencers and more.
In the end, she successfully argues that these systems, theologies and products created an environment where Americans became susceptible to and even accepting of/submissive to Christian Nationalism and Authoritarianism.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
While this book is written by a history professor and, I'm sure, intended to be used in an academic setting, I found it fascinating and very readable. It took a little bit for me to get into it--the "older" history covered in the book was a lot of different threads that took time to weave together and figure out how they all connected.
I'm glad I stuck it out, though, because as it got to recent history, I found it much more engrossing. Learning and tracing the ways Christianity has influenced the United States was amazing, and at times horrifying.
As a deconstructed Christian, I identified a lot of the mentalities from my parents' generation.
I read parts out loud to my husband and he has said that he'd like to read this, too.
I definitely recommend it to all Americans, to help understand where our current government and culture has come from.
I'm glad I stuck it out, though, because as it got to recent history, I found it much more engrossing. Learning and tracing the ways Christianity has influenced the United States was amazing, and at times horrifying.
As a deconstructed Christian, I identified a lot of the mentalities from my parents' generation.
I read parts out loud to my husband and he has said that he'd like to read this, too.
I definitely recommend it to all Americans, to help understand where our current government and culture has come from.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Have you ever wondered how Evangelical Christian women became hyper-feminine, have tons of toxic femininity, seem to be covered head to toe in Christian retail, involved in MLMs, having a us versus them mentality and more? This book does a good job of answering the question. While it is in a niche between popular history and academic history, it is worth sinking your teeth into.
Kobes Du Mez traces how disparate strands of Christian thinking end up coalescing into Christian femininity. You will be fascinated by the bits of Americana and American pop culture that shows up along for the ride from MLMs to Amish romances to Precious Moments figurines. Just as much as you will enjoy seeing figures you know pop up along the way!
Kobes Du Mez traces how disparate strands of Christian thinking end up coalescing into Christian femininity. You will be fascinated by the bits of Americana and American pop culture that shows up along for the ride from MLMs to Amish romances to Precious Moments figurines. Just as much as you will enjoy seeing figures you know pop up along the way!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A Fascinating, Eye-Opening, and Deeply Thoughtful Cultural History
The way Kristin Kobes Du Mez connects the dots between Erica Kirk, the charismatic movement, and MLMs in Live Laugh Love is absolutely fascinating. Because the material is so dense, eye-opening, and filled with "aha!" moments, I definitely had to read this book in doses and take small breaks to truly process it all. But it was entirely worth it.
I deeply appreciated how it shared insights into the white evangelical experience. As a Black woman, I found the history to be incredibly informative, revealing, and thoughtfully written. I highly recommend this brilliant cultural history to anyone looking to understand the powerful forces shaping modern white American communities.
The way Kristin Kobes Du Mez connects the dots between Erica Kirk, the charismatic movement, and MLMs in Live Laugh Love is absolutely fascinating. Because the material is so dense, eye-opening, and filled with "aha!" moments, I definitely had to read this book in doses and take small breaks to truly process it all. But it was entirely worth it.
I deeply appreciated how it shared insights into the white evangelical experience. As a Black woman, I found the history to be incredibly informative, revealing, and thoughtfully written. I highly recommend this brilliant cultural history to anyone looking to understand the powerful forces shaping modern white American communities.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Dr. Kristin Kobes Du Mez has helped to link where current movements have their roots. The scholarship is superb, even if sometimes pulling off the bandage hurts.
What would later be called the Prosperity Gospel has roots going back much further and much more broadly than I had realized. The knowledge will make for interesting discussions around the tables at family and church gatherings.
The book would be good for progressive Christians seeking to understand the roots of current political movements, for people who are questioning why MAGA evangelicals abandoned morals for power, and for people seeking to understand where they fit in after being left behind in their denominations.
What would later be called the Prosperity Gospel has roots going back much further and much more broadly than I had realized. The knowledge will make for interesting discussions around the tables at family and church gatherings.
The book would be good for progressive Christians seeking to understand the roots of current political movements, for people who are questioning why MAGA evangelicals abandoned morals for power, and for people seeking to understand where they fit in after being left behind in their denominations.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book. The author's previous book, Jesus and John Wayne, was one of the most eye-opening and impactful books I have ever read. This long awaited follow-up did not disappoint. It continues to reveal so much about the world that was made by practices within the evangelical church as well as how these extended far beyond the church community into every aspect of culture including books, music, television, shopping, and more. I won't spoil all of the history revealed and dots connected here, because you must read this book for yourself. A perfect companion to her previous work.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This book was fantastic. I loved Du Mez's Jesus and John Wayne, and on again she has give us a well-researched, engaging and readable book that explains the forces shaping evangelicals in America, and, in turn, American politics.
I am definitely going to read the book again when it is released. I've also been recommending it to everyone I know. Whether you grew up insider the conservative Christian culture detailed in the book, or not, the book provides so much historical and cultural context that explains the current moment. I highly recommend it!
This book was fantastic. I loved Du Mez's Jesus and John Wayne, and on again she has give us a well-researched, engaging and readable book that explains the forces shaping evangelicals in America, and, in turn, American politics.
I am definitely going to read the book again when it is released. I've also been recommending it to everyone I know. Whether you grew up insider the conservative Christian culture detailed in the book, or not, the book provides so much historical and cultural context that explains the current moment. I highly recommend it!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book feels like a companion book to Jesus and John Wayne. You could read it as a stand alone, but there was a lot of helpful context from the author's previous book. The last ten years I have been wondering "how did we get here?" as I watched the church I grew up in abandon its professed values to support things that felt unconscionable. These books helped me to understand the values that were actually driving the choices and viewpoints of so many of the Christians around me. I no longer wonder how we got here, it now feels inevitable.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
4.25 ⭐️
I really enjoyed it, though I feel like the subtitle is a bit misleading. While it focuses a lot on the history of women in white evangelical Christianity, I felt like the bigger focus was on New Thought and prosperity gospel. Which was still interesting to me, just not quite I expected initially. Similar to Jesus and John Wayne, I occasionally found it dense and challenging, but worth the read to better understand the current evangelical movement.
I really enjoyed it, though I feel like the subtitle is a bit misleading. While it focuses a lot on the history of women in white evangelical Christianity, I felt like the bigger focus was on New Thought and prosperity gospel. Which was still interesting to me, just not quite I expected initially. Similar to Jesus and John Wayne, I occasionally found it dense and challenging, but worth the read to better understand the current evangelical movement.
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