Nothing but the Truth

Female camaraderie is a significant part of most women’s lives. As kids, we bind together with other girls on the playground against the boys who have “cooties.” As teenagers, we partake in gossip and “girl talk.” And as adults, we set aside “girl time” to maintain the friendships that have had an important impact on our growth as individuals.

Christine Bronstein is one of many women who recognizes the importance of female camaraderie. After her girlfriends pulled her through postpartum depression, Christine Bronstein created the online social network A Band of Wives for women to connect and support one another. The stories posted on the site were so provoking that she organized them into an anthology called Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God: 51 Women Reveal the Power of Positive Female Connection, which will be published on Tuesday, October 30.

The following are the first sentences of a small selection of the book’s stories and a sneak peak of the tales chronicling love, sexuality, cancer, motherhood and more.

Can you imagine being named Joy Time, my birth name, and being informed that there is a 25 percent chance you could lose your ability to smile? “Joy Along the Rough Road” by Joy M. Nordenstrom

Between 1959 and 1964, Mom was pregnant five times and three of us survived. “The Book List” by Marie Drake

It is a truth universally disallowed that a married woman in possession of a husband and children must be in need of a few girlfriends. “A Girl’s Best Friend is Another Girl” by Eileen Chao

“Who’s your BFF?” my eight year old daughter Natalie often asks. I always lie and say, “Your father.” “BFF-Less” by Mimi Towle

Ask any woman how she learned about sex, and I promise you’ll get an answer that is as unique to each woman as her fingerprint. “Jesse’s Girl” by Violet Blue

My climb to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro was like childbirth – more difficult and more rewarding than I ever imagined. “A Journey for Good” by Joanie Wynn

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