“THERE ARE BOOKS YOU READ, AND THEN THERE ARE BOOKS THAT READ YOU. SUBMIT IS THE LATTER. REAL AND RAW. — DR. AERIAL ELLIS, FOUNDER, BLACK WOMEN PRAY

“What unfolds in these pages is more than a story of early menopause or recovery — it is a sacred unraveling. A woman coming face-to-face with herself beyond the layers of grief, guilt, expectation, and the quiet weight of what she has been taught to carry as a Black woman.

Natasha Lewin names what many of us have felt but have not always had language for. With remarkable creativity and gut-wrenching honesty, SUBMIT holds up a mirror — one that reflects both the strength and the strain of navigating purity culture, respectability, and the unspoken pressures that shape our identities.

SUBMIT names the tension of holding both shame and confidence, then invites us into something deeper: truth, healing, and freedom. 

This book will meet you where you are and gently call you back to yourself and to God.”

Dr. Aerial Ellis, Founder, Black Women Pray

"SUBMIT is constructed on an intricate, intense story line that immediately pulls readers into Dee's world: a mix of tragedy, isolation, and also blessings. A woman navigating early life menopause, mounting debt, intimacy issues in her marriage, and spiritual beliefs that can seem at odds with her real-life experiences, Dee is someone readers will easily connect with. Her voice is strong, believable, and infinitely riveting, tackling the crises of a woman mired in self-doubt, spiritual guilt, and a deep desire to undo the traumas that have led her to that place.

Dee's perspective of life events is not just crystal clear but also justified, layered onto earlier trauma and a profound feeling of not being able to measure up to the brutal expectations she experiences as a Black woman, a wife, a Christian, and a business owner.

This unique story is fraught with pain, insecurity, and a complex relationship between a woman and her faith, which, despite her challenges with her beliefs at times, is an integral part of who she is. Lewin's protagonist is absorbing, a vivid portrayal of the weights that women carry—and how life reshapes and rebuilds when those weights are finally released. 

 The BookLife Prize

“SUBMIT invites deeper curiosity and compassion for what others carry. With honesty, it offers a look into one woman’s journey of facing — and at times avoiding — grief shaped by deeper layers of trauma, revealing the quiet loneliness that can emerge when loss remains unspoken.” 

Stefanie Elkins, Death Doula & Founder, Death Over Drafts

"Running can be transformative — even feel familiar, like a warm blanket. But it always brings equality and a new understanding amongst all those who do it. There is but one simple goal: to cross a finish line. First, we must all submit to where our true ability lies. With patience, transformation does take place. That may be a metaphor for training and life."

David A. Levine, Head Coach, Los Angeles Road Runners, Author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Marathon Training