You Can't Buy Love Like That

Growing Up Gay in the Sixties

By: Carol E. Anderson

Narrated by: Carol E. Anderson

A young lesbian girl grows beyond fear to fearlessness as she comes of age in the '60s amid religious, social, and legal barriers.

Carol Anderson grows up in a fundamentalist Christian home in the '60s, a time when being gay was in opposition to all social and religious mores and against the law in most states. Fearing the rejection of her parents, she hides the truth about her love orientation, creating emotional distance from them for years, as she desperately struggles to harness her powerful attractions to women while pursuing false efforts to be with men.

The watershed point in Carol's journey comes when she returns to graduate school and discovers the feminist movement, which emboldens her sense of personal power and the freedom to love whom she chooses. But this sense of self-possession comes too late for honesty with her father. His unexpected death before she can tell him the truth brings the full cost of Carol's secret crashing in compelling her to come out to her mother before it is too late.

Candid and poignant, You Can't Buy Love Like That reveals the complex invisible dynamics that arise for gay people who are forced to hide their true selves in order to survive and celebrates the hard-won rewards of finding one's courageous heart and achieving self-acceptance and self-love.

©2017 Carol E. Anderson (P)2019 Carol E. Anderson

Love and authenticity in her own words

What an incredible story! It engages the listener from the very beginning. Carols descriptive recollections help the listener visualize the significance of the relationships in her life. Her heartfelt narration shares lessons everyone can relate to, from a strict religious upbringing to the unconditional love of her parents. She clearly articulates the difficulties of not living an authentic life and the rewards once she chose to follow her heart. This book is for anyone who is searching for the courage to be true to themselves.

Write Another

No matter what. A bunch of lesbians had to learn to make their own lives. This memoir is about one small life. It is an interesting throw back to when people thought a closet existed.

Honest, Courageous, Inspiring

The struggle to be true to one's self in the face of judgement, from family, society, and religion...this memoir beautifully pens that journey. I deeply value books that speak to the power of authenticity, to creating and keeping connections, to finding the courage to confront silence, and to keep coming out. This book does all of that. It's a book about love-a love that you simply can't buy.

Engaging & Authentic - a new heroine's journey

Hearing the author, Carol Anderson, tell her story added a depth of understanding to her journey that can only be realized when hearing the tone, cadence, intensity and emotion come through her voice.
Throughout her narration, I felt as though I was in the scene right along with her. Carol’s writing is superb and I was carried along feeling the same emotions as her in each moment. Cheering when she triumphs and feeling the resonance of pain at her losses.
Carol’s story is Life ~ A true heroine’s journey of finding herself and true love along the way. Although based around the added challenges of growing up gay in the 60’s; her story is a universal one, and I would encourage anyone who has experienced secrets, self-doubt, and finally belief in themselves and love, to listen. You will laugh, cry and relate to her as you would a dear friend. You won’t be disappointed!

Easy listening. Beautiful story of self discovery.

Captivating story of finding your authentic self — a journey everyone can relate to in some meaningful way. Great length, reels you in and keeps you listening. Left me wanting to know more... more about Carol, the people in her stories and the time period of radical change when all this took place. Time flew by while listening to this story.