The authors of this interesting and accessible book argue that there is no dominant reason why in the contemporary Western world women are consistently reported to be more religiously engaged than men. Rather they suggest that there are a number of explanations, including the fact that women remain the primary care-givers in society, care which is traditionally associated with religious institutions (the authors do not wish to suggest that there is anything essentially spiritual about birth or death), male disinterest in physical and psychological health, and patriarchy's control of human sexuality which also creates sites of female resistance. However, all this will change because, according to the authors, women are simply catching up with men as both ride the inevitable tide of secularisation towards the stony secularity of Dover Beach where the wreckage of religion slowly rots away. The fact that this theory of secularisation is strongly contested is ignored by the authors, who are keen proponents of it, and this lack of willingness at least to consider other ways of viewing the world may leave the reader with a sense of dissatisfaction and annoyance. The authors' attachment to secularisation theory frames the terms in which their investigation takes place. There is, for example, no sustained or detailed consideration of changing concepts of masculinity which may account for male disengagement from some religions in the West. Rather the ‘problem’ to be tackled is why women remain religious. There is a brief consideration of homosexuality and the part that gay men play in Anglo-Catholic culture but the analysis lacks sophistication and veers towards caricature. The authors are more sensitive and sympathetic towards Spiritualism (and to a lesser extent to other women-led religious movements) and their consideration of gender dynamics operating in historic and contemporary Spiritualism is fascinating. Though the argument may remain unconvincing this book is a useful and readable compendium and consideration of some (but by no means all) of the key theories surrounding women's strange relationship with religion.