Bad Mormon: A Memoir
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Named one of Entertainment Tonight’s Best Celebrity Memoirs of 2023
As seen in The New York Times, People, The Cut, Vulture, The Daily Beast, Today, Bustle, Us Weekly, Life & Style, and Interview
“No stone goes unturned” (People) in this memoir about The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay’s departure from the Mormon Church, and her unforeseen success in business, television, and single motherhood.
Straight off the slopes and into the spotlight, Heather Gay is famous for speaking the gospel truth. Whether as a businesswoman, mother, or television personality, she is unafraid to blaze a new trail, even if it means losing family, friends, and her community.
Born and bred to be devout, Heather based her life around her faith. She attended Brigham Young University, served a mission in France, and married into Mormon royalty in the temple. But her life as a good Mormon abruptly ended when she lost the marriage and faith that she had once believed would last forever.
With writing that is beautiful, sad, funny, and true, Heather recounts the difficult discovery of the darkness and damage that often exists behind a picture-perfect life, while examining the nuanced relationship between duty to self and duty to God. “An eye-opening firsthand account of religious indoctrination told with candor and sincerity” (Interview magazine), Bad Mormon is an unfiltered look at the religion that broke her heart.
Named one of Entertainment Tonight’s Best Celebrity Memoirs of 2023
As seen in The New York Times, People, The Cut, Vulture, The Daily Beast, Today, Bustle, Us Weekly, Life & Style, and Interview
“No stone goes unturned” (People) in this memoir about The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Heather Gay’s departure from the Mormon Church, and her unforeseen success in business, television, and single motherhood.
Straight off the slopes and into the spotlight, Heather Gay is famous for speaking the gospel truth. Whether as a businesswoman, mother, or television personality, she is unafraid to blaze a new trail, even if it means losing family, friends, and her community.
Born and bred to be devout, Heather based her life around her faith. She attended Brigham Young University, served a mission in France, and married into Mormon royalty in the temple. But her life as a good Mormon abruptly ended when she lost the marriage and faith that she had once believed would last forever.
With writing that is beautiful, sad, funny, and true, Heather recounts the difficult discovery of the darkness and damage that often exists behind a picture-perfect life, while examining the nuanced relationship between duty to self and duty to God. “An eye-opening firsthand account of religious indoctrination told with candor and sincerity” (Interview magazine), Bad Mormon is an unfiltered look at the religion that broke her heart.
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Community Reviews
Why are there so many metaphors and allusions in this book? A third of them donât even make much sense contextually?
(Lisa Barlow would never).
(Lisa Barlow would never).
If you’re a fan of the RHOSLC then you’ll wanna read this. She’s not the best author but she dishes some dirt.
“Bad Mormon” is an interesting peek behind the curtain of one of my favorite women from any of the “Real Housewives” franchises that I’ve seen. Heather is a shining star on the series, and this memoir provides some backstory into exactly what shaped her into the woman that we see on our screens. The memoir has her humor and wit, making it seem as if you are sitting alone with a friend, having a discussion about her life. With that, it feels like there’s a lot of detail left out, especially when it comes to her relationship with the other ladies of the show. It was interesting getting to see her relationship with religion, which was one of the more interesting aspects of the series in the first season. I’m a greedy person and I always want more, so it would have been nice to get more details about her life, since it seemed like this was a more shallow representation of Heather. That being said, I still found this to be an entertaining and heartfelt memoir. I’d love to hear more from her, so I hope we have more books in the future, and I am very excited to see her on my screen again here soon.
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