Our favorite books keep us company, give us hope, and help us find meaning in a chaotic world. Our family stories create us, restrain us, and haunt us. In this fresh and relatable work, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan asks big questions about her family legacy and turns to her favorite novel, Jane Eyre, for the answers.

Informed by the reading practices of medieval monks and rabbinic scholars from her training at the Harvard Divinity School and filtered through the pages of Jane Eyre as well as Little Women, Harry Potter, and The Great Gatsby, Zoltan explores what it means to have a birthright that you want to honor and shake off; remember but leave behind. She also reveals simple practices for reading any work as a sacred text—from Virginia Woolf to Anne of Green Gables to baseball scorecards.

Whether you're an avowed "Eyrehead" or simply a curious reader looking for a richer connection with the written word, this deeply felt and inspiring book will light the way to a more intimate appreciation for whatever books you love to read.