You’ve seen the bright, multi-colored cover everywhere. It’s been on every airport bookshelf and Instagram feed for years. But if you’re asking is Untamed based on a true story, the short answer is: yes, entirely.
It isn’t a novel. It isn’t a collection of fables.
Glennon Doyle wrote Untamed as a memoir, a raw, unfiltered look at her own life. She tells the story of how she dismantled her "perfect" world to build something that actually felt real. But "true" is a tricky word when it comes to memoirs.
Memoirs aren't history books. They are reflections of personal experience.
The Viral Truth of Glennon Doyle’s Transformation
People often wonder about the timeline. Was there a script? No. Doyle was a popular "mommy blogger" known for her Christian-adjacent parenting advice and her previous books like Love Warrior. She was the poster child for "staying and fighting" for a marriage after infidelity. Then, everything changed.
The book centers on a specific, lightning-bolt moment. Doyle was at a conference for her book tour when she saw Abby Wambach walk into the room.
Abby is an Olympic gold medalist and a soccer legend.
The moment they locked eyes, Doyle says she felt something she had never felt before. She calls it her "Knowing."
This wasn't just a crush. It was a total system failure of the life she had been living. She was married to Craig Melton at the time. They had three kids. They had just survived a massive cheating scandal and she had written a New York Times bestseller about how they fixed their marriage.
Suddenly, she realized she was living in a cage.
Is Untamed Based on a True Story or Just Emotional Truth?
When critics ask is Untamed based on a true story, they’re often looking for the messy details that didn't make it into the prose.
In the book, Doyle describes the process of "un-taming" herself. She uses the metaphor of Tabitha, a captive cheetah she saw at a zoo. The cheetah was being trained to chase a pink rabbit behind a Jeep. It forgot it was a wild animal.
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Doyle argues that women are the same. We are trained to be "good" instead of "real."
The "true story" part is the divorce. It really happened. The marriage to Abby Wambach? Also very real. They married in 2017.
But a memoir is filtered through the author's eyes. Craig Melton, her ex-husband, has actually been incredibly supportive of the book. That’s a rare thing in the world of tell-all memoirs. Usually, there’s a lawsuit or a public feud.
Instead, they pioneered a version of "co-parenting" that includes Abby. They call themselves a "pod."
The Real People Behind the Pages
- Abby Wambach: She’s not just a character. She’s a world-class athlete who had her own struggles with addiction and identity, which she documented in her own memoir, Forward.
- Craig Melton: He isn't the villain. In Untamed, Doyle portrays him as a man also trying to find his way out of the expectations of masculinity.
- The Kids: Chase, Tish, and Amma. Their reactions to the divorce and the new relationship are central to the book's narrative arc.
What Most People Get Wrong About the "Truth" in Untamed
There is a huge misconception that Doyle just "left her husband for a woman."
Honestly, that’s a massive oversimplification.
The book is more about the internal "quiet" that she found. She talks about how she spent her life asking everyone else for permission. She asked her friends, her church, her parents.
She realized she was ignoring her own inner voice.
If you’re looking for a play-by-play of every argument she had with her parents or the exact legal steps of her divorce, you won't find them. Doyle writes in vignettes. She takes a small moment—like making a school lunch or a conversation about a pet—and turns it into a lesson.
This leads some people to think it feels a bit "preachy" or "self-help-y."
But the events? They’re facts.
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The Controversy of the "Knowing"
Not everyone buys into the "Knowing."
Some psychologists and critics have pointed out that following your gut is great, but it can also be risky. They argue that Untamed promotes a brand of individualism that might be hard to sustain in the real world.
For instance, what if your "Knowing" tells you to do something that hurts someone else?
Doyle addresses this by saying that a mother’s greatest gift to her children is to show them how to be fully alive, not to sacrifice her soul for their comfort. It's a radical idea.
It’s also why the book resonated so deeply during the pandemic. People were stuck in their houses, looking at their lives, and wondering: Is this it? Am I the cheetah or the pink rabbit?
Why the Truth Matters for the Reader
We crave stories that are true because we want to know that change is possible.
If Untamed were a novel, it would be a nice story about a woman finding herself. Because it's a memoir, it becomes a blueprint.
Doyle’s life serves as a case study.
She was a suburban mom with a religious background. She had an eating disorder. She had struggled with sobriety.
She wasn't "supposed" to end up as a queer icon and a leader of a massive feminist movement (Together Rising).
The "truth" in Untamed is that you can burn down a life that doesn't fit you and build a new one from the ashes.
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The Documentary Evidence
If you want proof beyond the pages, look at Doyle’s social media or her podcast, We Can Do Hard Things.
The podcast is basically a live-action version of the book. She, her sister Amanda, and Abby talk about the ongoing reality of their lives. They talk about anxiety, relapse, parenting struggles, and the "drudgery" of a long-term relationship.
It proves that the "happy ending" in the book wasn't the end of the story. It was just the beginning of a different kind of work.
The story is true, but it's also ongoing.
Actionable Takeaways for Living Your Own "Untamed" Story
If you’re reading the book and feeling inspired (or even a little panicked), here’s how to handle the "truth" of your own life:
Start with the "Quiet." Doyle suggests sitting in silence for 10 minutes a day. Don't look for answers. Just look for yourself.
Identify the Pink Rabbits. What are the things you do just because you’re "supposed" to? Maybe it’s a job you hate or a social obligation that drains you. Write them down.
Trust the Discomfort. Change is rarely comfortable. If you’re feeling "untethered," it might just mean you’re finally letting go of the cage.
Build Your Pod. You don't have to do it alone. Find people who value your truth over your "goodness."
The real legacy of Untamed isn't just Glennon Doyle’s life. It’s the permission it gave millions of people to stop pretending. The story is true, not because every word is a literal transcript of life, but because it captures the universal feeling of finally waking up.
Stop asking if the story is true and start asking if your own story is true to you.
Check your local library or independent bookstore for a copy of Untamed and compare Doyle's earlier works to see the evolution of her narrative. Pay attention to the shifts in her tone—it’s the clearest evidence of someone finding their real voice.