GEMMA HARTLEY & SAVALA NOLAN

Schedule

Fri Oct 16 2026 at 07:00 pm to 08:00 pm

UTC-07:00
Location

Copperfield's Books | Petaluma, CA

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Gemma Hartley joins Savala Nolan to discuss No One Loves an Angry Woman - a powerful memoir of faith, feminism, rage & reclamation.
About this Event

PETALUMA --

Copperfield's Books welcomes Gemma Hartley to Petaluma in celebration of her spellbinding new memoir - !

She will be joined in conversation by Savala Nolan, local author, essayist and professor.

Join us for a reading and compelling discussion followed by an audience Q&A and book signing.

This event is free and open to the public. Registration highly encouraged for seating.

The best-selling author of Fed Up deconstructs her Evangelical upbringing and shows how women’s anger can lead us towards change.

“A seething read that burns to the bone.” —Tia Levings, New York Times best-selling author of A Well-Trained Wife

Gemma Hartley grew up in an Evangelical household where she was raised to become an obedient wife from the time she was a little girl. A sexual assault as a teenager upended her evangelical world, and that coupled with an upbringing steeped in purity culture led her to internalize guilt, silence… and anger.

The good girl conditioning of the church demanded that Hartley seek the narrow path of womanhood that emphasized service to others, to swallow the discomfort and rage that simmered just below the surface – but when political events reawakened her trauma, she began to come apart at the seams. Here she unravels the threads of her upbringing to weave a new story, one where women’s anger is not sinful and dangerous – it is information, and often the most rational response there is.

Whether or not you’ve ever set foot in a church, Christian patriarchal norms have shaped American culture in ways that are far-reaching and insidious. From restrictive legislation that takes away women’s bodily autonomy to cultural norms that expect women to pick up after their husbands and joyfully give up their careers to care for children—these are all standards informed and fed by Christian culture.

Tying together her Christian upbringing together with a feminist examination of society today, Hartley tells her personal story, but it’s bigger than that: No One Loves an Angry Woman is the story of a cultural awakening.

Author:

Gemma Hartley is the author of FED UP: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward. Her work has been featured in outlets including Harper’s Bazaar, Women’s Health, Glamour, The Washington Post, CNBC, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. She is an experienced interviewee, speaker, and podcast guest, and has made appearances on shows including Good Morning America and Cheryl Strayed’s Dear Sugars. She lives in Reno, Nevada.

Savala Nolan is an essayist and professor who writes about race, bodies, and gender. She helped create the Peabody Award–winning podcast The Promise, and directs the social justice program at UC Berkeley, School of Law, where she teaches about the role of identity in lawyering. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Harper’s magazine, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Time, Forbes, LitHub, and more.


Praise:

“This is a book you’ll be pressing into people’s hands for years. Come for the memoir, leave with a whole new relationship to your own fury.” —Amanda Montell, New York Times best-selling author of The Age of Magical Overthinking

“Not only is this book packed with mic-drop wisdom; its gorgeous prose will demand to be read, reread, and read again.” —Reema Zaman, author of I Am Yours

“Hartley’s account of unlearning fear, questioning faith, walking away from white patriarchy, and finding freedom on the other side is searing and compelling.” —Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her

“A brave, bold, timely, and intimate exploration of how Christian patriarchy harms girls and women . . . The honesty and rigor of this book is a gift.” —Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out

“Captivating . . . This book not only provides permission to be angry but also carves space for anger. A seething read that burns to the bone.” —Tia Levings, New York Times best-selling author of A Well-Trained Wife

“Hartley’s tour de force will enliven, embolden, and wake you up.” —Kate Manne, author of Down Girl

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Where is it happening?

Copperfield's Books, 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00 to USD 37.00

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