When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love, and Starting Over
Addie Zierman
New Edition Coming Spring 2025
In the strange, us-versus-them world of ’90s Christian subculture, faith was measured in Jesus fish, WWJD bracelets, and purity pledges. And Addie Zierman was an evangelical poster child—so “on fire for God” that she didn’t realize the flame of her faith was dwindling until it burned entirely out.
With candor and transparency, Addie chronicles her journey through church culture and first love, and her entrance—unprepared and angry—into marriage. When she washes out of church, and nearly her marriage, on a sea of tequila and depression, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever go back.
This is the funny, heartbreaking story of untangling oneself from cliche in search of a faith worth embracing. It’s a story for anyone who has ever felt alone in a crowded church. For the cynic. The doubter. The former Jesus freak struggling with life’s complexity.
It’s a story about the slow work of returning to love and about what lasts when nothing seems worth keeping.
Praise for When We Were on Fire
“With its luminous prose, Zierman’s memoir reads like a novel, threaded with imperfect faith, doubt, deep searching, love and friendship and loss and depression. … A book to savor to the very last page.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review and named a Best Book of the Year)
“When We Were on Fire is a true work of art. It’s big, wide, deep, and true.” —Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed
“Addie Zierman is a master storyteller whose sharp wit is matched only by her disarming sincerity. … For those of us working to reconcile the faith of our youth with the faith of our adulthood, it’s such a joy to have a friend like Addie along for the journey.” —Rachel Held Evans, author of Inspired
“A brilliant debut.” —Anne Bogel, author, founder of the blog Modern Mrs Darcy, and creator of the podcasts What Should I Read Next? and One Great Book
“Addie Zierman’s unflinching candor and tender vulnerability make When We Were on Fire a must-read memoir.” —Elizabeth Esther, author of Girl at the End of the World
“Addie is a beautiful writer … bold and honest.” —Sarah Bessey, author of Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith
“When We Were on Fire [is] an insightful, unflinching look at growing up evangelical.” —Kristen Howerton, author of Rage Against the Minivan, psychotherapist, and podcaster
“Hilarious and heartfelt, passionate and poetic … You will love When We Were on Fire from beginning to end.” —Grace Biskie, author of Kingdom Building and The Cries of the Poor
Addie Zierman is the author of When We Were on Fire and Night Driving. She holds an MFA from Hamline University and lives in Minnesota with her husband and sons.