National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
National Bestseller
Lambda Literary Award Finalist

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY TIME * NPR * The Washington Post * Kirkus Reviews * Washington Independent Review of Books * The Millions * Electric Literature * Ms Magazine * Entropy Magazine * Largehearted Boy * Passerbuys

"Irreverent and original." -New York Times

"Magisterial." -The New Yorker

"An intoxicating writer." -The Atlantic

"A classic!" -Mary Karr

"A true light in the dark." -Stephanie Danler

"An essential, heartbreaking project." -Carmen Maria Machado

A gripping set of stories about the forces that shape girls and the adults they become. A wise and brilliant guide to transforming the self and our society.

In her powerful new book, critically acclaimed author Melissa Febos examines the narratives women are told about what it means to be female and what it takes to free oneself from them.

When her body began to change at eleven years old, Febos understood immediately that her meaning to other people had changed with it. By her teens, she defined herself based on these perceptions and by the romantic relationships she threw herself into headlong. Over time, Febos increasingly questioned the stories she'd been told about herself and the habits and defenses she'd developed over years of trying to meet others' expectations. The values she and so many other women had learned in girlhood did not prioritize their personal safety, happiness, or freedom, and she set out to reframe those values and beliefs.

Blending investigative reporting, memoir, and scholarship, Febos charts how she and others like her have reimagined relationships and made room for the anger, grief, power, and pleasure women have long been taught to deny.
Written with Febos' characteristic precision, lyricism, and insight, Girlhood is a philosophical treatise, an anthem for women, and a searing study of the transitions into and away from girlhood, toward a chosen self.

• We started tracking this book on August 9, 2020.
• This book was $9.99 when we started tracking it.
• The price of this book has changed 31 times in the past 1,676 days.
• The current price of this book is $4.99 last checked 15 hours ago.
• This book is at its lowest price in the past 90 days.
• This lowest price this book has been offered at in the past year is $3.99.
• The lowest price to date was $1.99 last reached on December 14, 2021.
• This book has been $1.99 one time since we started tracking it.
• The highest price to date was $9.99 last reached on September 4, 2024.
• This book has been $9.99 4 times since we started tracking it.

• Literature & FictionLiterary CriticismMovements & PeriodsGothic & Romantic

• Text-to-Speech: Disabled
• Lending: Disabled
• Print Length: 330 Pages
• File Size: 91 KB