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Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult
- Narrated by: Brenda Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
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Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult
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Publisher's summary
New! Second edition (2019) read by the author, Brenda Lee.
Out of The Cocoon, which has earned 5 stars on Amazon, is a heart-wrenching, yet inspirational tale about the author's escape from a religious cult after enduring decades of dysfunction. Take the incredible journey with her as she survives stifling oppression as a child, physical and emotional abuse as a teenager, and the ultimate tragedy: the loss of her family once she becomes an adult. See how, like a butterfly, she changes the world within her, as her external world becomes increasingly unyielding.
This audiobook is a "must listen" for anyone who has experienced abuse, alcoholism, single parenthood, serious depression, or a parent's rejection. Discover more about your own life through Brenda Lee's introspective, yet humorous flight from insanity. Learn how you, too, can emerge "Out of The Cocoon" to create a future brimming with unconditional love and lasting happiness.
In this second edition, Brenda Lee answers many questions about relatives who were profiled in her first edition, originally published in 2006.
Did she ever see her first love again? Whose untimely death surprised her most? Whose actions after death cut her deeply? Where are her mother and father now and do they speak to Brenda? Does she ever see her sister's children? What is her son, Derek, doing now that he's an adult? Who is the new love in her life? What professional successes has she had since her memoir was published? What would she do differently if she could go back in time and change things?
Brenda Lee's motto: “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” (Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life).
Narration and "Metaphysics" guitar composition written and performed by Derek DeMuth.
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- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 168
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed "fertility crisis" and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all - a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children - before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, conversation has turned to whether it's necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Am I the only sane childfree woman in here?
- By J. Malouin on 09-29-15
By: Meghan Daum
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Beyond Tears
- Living After Losing a Child, Revised Edition
- By: Carol Barkin, Barbara J. Goldstein, Audrey Cohen, and others
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
The death of a child is that unimaginable loss no parent ever expects to face. In Beyond Tears, nine mothers share their individual stories of how to survive in the darkest hour. They candidly share with other bereaved parents what to expect in the first year and long beyond.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Comforting and familiar
- By Jeanne on 01-12-17
By: Carol Barkin, and others
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Walking on Eggshells
- Navigating the Delicate Relationship Between Adult Children and Parents
- By: Jane Isay
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 132
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 111
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Story4 out of 5 stars 111
We raise our children to be independent and lead fulfilling lives, but when they finally do, staying close becomes more complicated than ever. And for every bewildered mother who wonders why her children don't call, there is a frustrated son or daughter who just wants to be treated like a grownup. Now, renowned editor Jane Isay delivers the perfect gift to both parents and their adult children-real-life wisdom and advice on how to stay together without falling apart.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed
- By tammy alvarez on 01-13-19
By: Jane Isay
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Shanda
- A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy
- By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
- Narrated by: Dina Pearlman
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
The word "shanda" is defined as shame or disgrace in Yiddish. This book, Shanda, tells the story of three generations of complicated, intense twentieth-century Jews for whom the desire to fit in and the fear of public humiliation either drove their aspirations or crushed their spirit. In her deeply engaging, astonishingly candid memoir, author and activist Letty Cottin Pogrebin exposes the fiercely-guarded lies and intricate cover-ups woven by dozens of members of her extended family.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully Written!
- By Adele Aron Greenspun on 01-12-23
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The Survivors
- A Story of War, Inheritance, and Healing
- By: Adam Frankel
- Narrated by: Adam Frankel, Rob Shapiro
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
Adam Frankel’s maternal grandparents survived the Holocaust and built new lives, with new names, in Connecticut. Though they tried to leave the horrors of their past behind, the pain they suffered crossed generational lines - a fact most apparent in the mental health of Adam’s mother. When Adam sat down with her to examine their family history in detail, he learned another shocking secret, this time one that unraveled Adam’s entire understanding of who he is.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing story
- By Alissa on 12-26-19
By: Adam Frankel
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Hidden Girl
- The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave
- By: Shyima Hall, Lisa Wysocky
- Narrated by: Robin Eller
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 468
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 419
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Story4 out of 5 stars 416
Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt's capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima's servitude - but her journey to true freedom was far from over.
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4 out of 5 stars
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story
- By Don on 09-26-14
By: Shyima Hall, and others
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Women Rowing North
- By: Mary Pipher
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 529
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 451
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Story4 out of 5 stars 448
Women growing older contend with ageism, misogyny and loss. Yet as Mary Pipher shows, most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic and wise people they have always wanted to be. In Women Rowing North, Pipher offers a timely examination of the cultural and developmental issues women face as they age.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The narrator is a distraction
- By Amazon Customer on 03-01-19
By: Mary Pipher
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Chicken Soup for the Soul - Find Your Happiness
- 101 Inspirational Stories about Finding Your Purpose, Passion, and Joy
- By: Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
- Narrated by: Cynthia Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 42
What makes you happy? Others share how they found their passion, purpose, and joy in life in these 101 personal and exciting stories that are sure to inspire and encourage listeners to find their own happiness. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness will encourage listeners to pursue their dreams, find their passion and seek joy in their life with its 101 personal and inspiring stories. This book continues Chicken Soup for the Soul’s focus on inspiration and hope, reminding us that we all can find our own happiness.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I got even more depressed
- By Tom on 09-08-14
By: Jack Canfield, and others
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Unfollow
- A Memoir of Loving and Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church
- By: Megan Phelps-Roper
- Narrated by: Megan Phelps-Roper
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,147
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,889
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,874
At the age of five, Megan Phelps-Roper began protesting homosexuality and other alleged vices alongside fellow members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Founded by her grandfather and consisting almost entirely of her extended family, the tiny group would gain worldwide notoriety for its pickets at military funerals and celebrations of death and tragedy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Insightful, honest and engaging
- By C.B.E. on 11-28-19
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Before and After
- The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children's Home Society
- By: Judy Christie, Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,670
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,447
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,433
From the 1920s to 1950, Georgia Tann ran a black-market baby business at the Tennessee Children’s Home Society in Memphis. The publication of Lisa Wingate’s novel Before We Were Yours brought new awareness of Tann’s lucrative career in child trafficking. Adoptees who knew little about their pasts gained insight into the startling facts behind their family histories. Encouraged by their contact with Wingate and award-winning journalist Judy Christie, who documented the stories of 15 adoptees in this book, many determined Tann survivors set out to trace their roots.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Badly written
- By Stacie on 02-25-20
By: Judy Christie, and others
What listeners say about Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Malena K. Lopez
- 08-14-22
wanted more about the JW
it started out pretty good, but then really just turned into her life, which actually was pretty normal: bad relationships, being an enabler. was too many chapters about day care... yes, it sucks, but what does it have to do with JW? the authors life wasn't too awful, but it seems other JW lives were.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 07-26-22
Wah-wah-wah
A very annoying book. I too am an ex-JW, having spent 40 adult years in the "Truth." But honestly, blaming every problem you have on having been a JW is ridiculous. This woman made foolish choices in her life and, religion aside, blames everyone else for the repercussions of those choices. The title is misleading; this book was more about child care than escaping from a religious cult. And according to her own account, she never really was "in the Truth" anyway. According to her own memoir, she, unlike others she encountered, was smart enough and brave enough to recognize the falseness and escape -- unlike those weak, dumb, and cowardly people who stayed in. I feel great compassion for anyone who is misled by a religion or a political organization or an individual in their life. But ultimately we all are accountable for our own choices. Wasted a credit and 7 hours.
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