Girlhood Audiobook By Melissa Febos cover art

Girlhood

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Girlhood

By: Melissa Febos
Narrated by: Melissa Febos
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.63

Buy for $19.63

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Girlhood written and read by Melissa Febos.

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.

©2021 Melissa Febos (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Gender Studies Literary History & Criticism Memoir Essentials Women
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Featured Article: The Best Sex-Positive Books to Empower and Inspire You


Sex is a natural part of life, but it can sometimes feel like a taboo subject—which is a bit preposterous, considering how sex is linked to politics, gender, mental health, literature, and how we navigate the world. This list of the best sex-positive nonfiction books (with a few provocative fiction titles thrown in for good measure) is all about exploring the intricacies of sex with intelligence, humor, and insight. Discover these cross-genre voices.

What listeners say about Girlhood

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    163
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    148
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    146
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful essays on growing up

Febos' narratives about becoming self aware are transformative and loving. The writing is exquisite. I'll definitely listen/read again!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling

She's been through it. Worth a listen, for sure. Could have trimmed the essays in a few places.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Spot on for many of us

Provocative. A salve for other academics with histories. (I enjoy the author’s narration also. It’s always good to hear the author read)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book but Audio is Choppy

I really enjoyed listening to this book. It always is nice listening to the author read it because I can get more of a sense of what they meant when they wrote it. I did have to stop quite often because much of it does hit deep wounds for those whom identify as female. We all have experienced much of what she speaks about in this book, so personally, I needed time away to process and self-reflect on what the words mean in my life and process what wounds I still have left unhealed that the book opens up. Melissa gives voice to feelings many women are unable to give voice to, like "empty consent,"

The audio was very choppy in the first few chapters. I almost stopped the book altogether and returned it because it was so bad with the repeats and weird cut-offs. After about Chapter 7 or 8 it stopped being choppy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Breathtaking.

This collection of essays gutted me. I felt seen. Melissa Febos is a literary genius who is able to distill experience into the most beautiful prose.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enlightening

I heard Melissa Febos interviewed on NPR & was so impressed with her awareness of how difficult it is to come into relationship with our own body. Her sensitivity to the human psyche, especially related to our sexuality, body, and the big picture of the world we live in related to all the above are difficult to have awareness about much less to be able to bring light and understanding to. Thank you for helping me as a man understand better my own self body hatred and also my behavior sexually. I hope to be much more aware of my wife’s needs and listen and encourage her more to know herself, and be my guide.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Another critical read for anyone who’s cares about women’s rights and freedom

I really hope all women, and men, for that matter, find this book. The stories about how women are taught to move through a patriarchal and sexist world are so eye opening. I wish my younger self would have heard these stories, along with the freedom found within them. I wish my Mother and all the women in my life heard these, too. Beautifully written, thoughtful, vulnerable and educational.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a sense of clarity

been going through a very toxic breakup and this collection of essays helped me so much with realizing why i need to end it (along with being beautifully written and incredibly raw).

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read, audio needs editing

The first hour or so is the book was fine but as it progressed there were more and more sound errors and different sections repeated. The essays are excellent, though. I would skip the audiobook and purchase a printed copy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Introspective

Would recommend! A friend of mine recommended this to me after reading it in a writing class. I picked it up and didn't turn it off for almost four hours. There was so much to digest, relating my own life experiences to those of the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!