-
Leaving the Witness
- Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life
- Narrated by: Amber Scorah
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

pick 2 free titles with trial.
Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Shunned
- How I Lost My Religion and Found Myself
- By: Linda A. Curtis
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shunned follows Linda as she steps into a world she was taught to fear and discovers what is possible when we stay true to our hearts, even when it means disappointing those we love.
-
-
Great book
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-21
By: Linda A. Curtis
-
How to Escape from Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Lloyd Evans
- Narrated by: Lloyd Evans
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jehovah's Witnesses number into the millions globally and are well known for their public evangelism about God's kingdom. But beneath the facade of brotherly love and organizational unity lies a captive organization in which doubts are stifled, and dissent is ruthlessly crushed. Once a Witness stops believing, they face being ostracized as a loathed "mentally diseased" apostate. Author Lloyd Evans is a well-known ex-Witness writer and activist. He draws on his firsthand, insider knowledge as a former elder to guide would-be escapees through the minefield that awaits them.
-
-
Extremely Important Work of Non-Fiction
- By MyrtleSue on 11-04-18
By: Lloyd Evans
-
'Knock Knock' Who's There?: 'The Truth' About Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Anthony James
- Narrated by: Dwight Equitz
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of a young man who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, seemingly destined to spend the rest of his life following the instruction of God's "Spirit Directed Organization". He soon came to discover, however, that things were not as they had first seemed. Following a patch of doubt and subsequent in-depth investigation into the religion, the young man began to realize that the things he had previously accepted without question no longer made sense.
-
-
I don't know where to begin
- By Miguel Negron on 10-10-17
By: Anthony James
-
Combating Cult Mind Control
- The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Daniel Greenberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The techniques of undue influence have evolved dramatically and continue to do so. Today, a vast array of methods exist to deceive, manipulate, and indoctrinate people into closed systems of obedience and dependency. This audiobook can help you protect or regain your sanity, freedom, and health. It can also help you protect others from the use of mind-control techniques.
-
-
Getting to know you.
- By Bryan Zingen on 10-27-18
By: Steven Hassan
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Insightful, honest and engaging
- By C.B.E. on 11-28-19
-
The Witness Wore Red
- The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
- By: Rebecca Musser, M. Bridget Cook
- Narrated by: Rebecca Musser
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The revealing and inspiring memoir of a woman forced into polygamous marriage in FLDS Church and her brave struggle to protect others from the same fate. Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs.
-
-
Compelling and emotional read
- By Briley on 10-08-13
By: Rebecca Musser, and others
-
Shunned
- How I Lost My Religion and Found Myself
- By: Linda A. Curtis
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shunned follows Linda as she steps into a world she was taught to fear and discovers what is possible when we stay true to our hearts, even when it means disappointing those we love.
-
-
Great book
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-21
By: Linda A. Curtis
-
How to Escape from Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Lloyd Evans
- Narrated by: Lloyd Evans
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jehovah's Witnesses number into the millions globally and are well known for their public evangelism about God's kingdom. But beneath the facade of brotherly love and organizational unity lies a captive organization in which doubts are stifled, and dissent is ruthlessly crushed. Once a Witness stops believing, they face being ostracized as a loathed "mentally diseased" apostate. Author Lloyd Evans is a well-known ex-Witness writer and activist. He draws on his firsthand, insider knowledge as a former elder to guide would-be escapees through the minefield that awaits them.
-
-
Extremely Important Work of Non-Fiction
- By MyrtleSue on 11-04-18
By: Lloyd Evans
-
'Knock Knock' Who's There?: 'The Truth' About Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Anthony James
- Narrated by: Dwight Equitz
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of a young man who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, seemingly destined to spend the rest of his life following the instruction of God's "Spirit Directed Organization". He soon came to discover, however, that things were not as they had first seemed. Following a patch of doubt and subsequent in-depth investigation into the religion, the young man began to realize that the things he had previously accepted without question no longer made sense.
-
-
I don't know where to begin
- By Miguel Negron on 10-10-17
By: Anthony James
-
Combating Cult Mind Control
- The #1 Best-Selling Guide to Protection, Rescue, and Recovery from Destructive Cults
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Daniel Greenberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The techniques of undue influence have evolved dramatically and continue to do so. Today, a vast array of methods exist to deceive, manipulate, and indoctrinate people into closed systems of obedience and dependency. This audiobook can help you protect or regain your sanity, freedom, and health. It can also help you protect others from the use of mind-control techniques.
-
-
Getting to know you.
- By Bryan Zingen on 10-27-18
By: Steven Hassan
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Insightful, honest and engaging
- By C.B.E. on 11-28-19
-
The Witness Wore Red
- The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
- By: Rebecca Musser, M. Bridget Cook
- Narrated by: Rebecca Musser
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The revealing and inspiring memoir of a woman forced into polygamous marriage in FLDS Church and her brave struggle to protect others from the same fate. Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs.
-
-
Compelling and emotional read
- By Briley on 10-08-13
By: Rebecca Musser, and others
-
Troublemaker
- Surviving Hollywood and Scientology
- By: Leah Remini
- Narrated by: Leah Remini
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outspoken actress, talk show host, and reality television star offers up a no-holds-barred memoir, including an eye-opening insider account of her tumultuous and heart-wrenching 30-year-plus association with the Church of Scientology.
-
-
This book is fascinating and funny! Fantastic!
- By Kim on 11-04-15
By: Leah Remini
-
A Billion Years
- My Escape from a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology
- By: Mike Rinder
- Narrated by: Mike Rinder
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In A Billion Years, the dark, dystopian truth about Scientology is revealed as never before. Rinder offers insights into the religion that only someone of his former high rank could provide and tells a harrowing but fulfilling story of personal resilience.
-
-
From a former SO Child
- By Chantal on 09-29-22
By: Mike Rinder
-
Educated
- A Memoir
- By: Tara Westover
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Her family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education, and no one to intervene when one of Tara’s older brothers became violent. When another brother got himself into college, Tara decided to try a new kind of life. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge University.
-
-
The Other Side of Idaho's Mountains
- By Darwin8u on 03-28-18
By: Tara Westover
-
A Voice from Inside
- Notes on Religious Trauma in a Captive Organization
- By: Geoffrey Wallis
- Narrated by: KC Dalbey
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What is it like to suffer Religious Trauma Syndrome while still inside a high demand religious organization? What causes Religious Trauma Syndrome, and what are the risks that come with continuing participation? A Voice from Inside presents the rare voice of a critical insider of the Watch Tower Society, offering an account of the experience, how people are struggling, and what can be done to survive and move forward.
-
-
Recently free
- By frank on 10-27-21
By: Geoffrey Wallis
-
Beyond Belief
- My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
- By: Jenna Miscavige Hill
- Narrated by: Sandy Rustin
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, was raised as a Scientologist but left the controversial religion in 2005. In Beyond Belief, she shares her true story of life inside the upper ranks of the sect, details her experiences as a member Sea Org - the church's highest ministry - speaks of her "disconnection" from family outside of the organization, and tells the story of her ultimate escape.
-
-
The Despicable Truth Behind Scientology
- By Tim on 02-07-13
-
Freedom of Mind
- Helping Loved Ones Leave Controlling People, Cults, and Beliefs
- By: Steven Hassan
- Narrated by: Steven Hassan
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the post-9/11 world, people are more susceptible than ever to charismatic figures who offer simple, black v. white, us v. them, good v. evil, formulaic solutions. The rise of the internet; increasingly sophisticated knowledge about how to influence and manipulate others; and the growing vulnerabilities of people across the planet-make for a dangerous, potentially devastating combination.
-
-
Required reading
- By H. R. Clemons on 05-19-23
By: Steven Hassan
-
Bad Mormon
- By: Heather Gay
- Narrated by: Heather Gay
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Straight off the slopes and into the spotlight, Heather Gay is famous for speaking the gospel truth. Whether as a businesswoman, mother, or television personality, she is unafraid to blaze a new trail, even if it means losing family, friends, and her community.
-
-
Not my favorite-too disrespectful
- By E. Davies on 02-15-23
By: Heather Gay
-
Escape
- By: Carolyn Jessop, Laura Palmer
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When she was 18 years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger - a man 32 years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church.
-
-
Like a train wreck you can't turn away
- By Cheryl D on 10-28-07
By: Carolyn Jessop, and others
-
Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus
- Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections
- By: Nabeel Qureshi, Lee Strobel - foreword
- Narrated by: Nabeel Qureshi, Michelle Qureshi, Lee Strobel, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus, now expanded with new bonus content, Nabeel Qureshi describes his dramatic journey from Islam to Christianity, complete with friendships, investigations, and supernatural dreams along the way. Providing an intimate window into a loving Muslim home, Qureshi shares how he developed a passion for Islam before discovering, almost against his will, evidence that Jesus rose from the dead and claimed to be God.
-
-
INCREDIBLE!!! This book affected me greatly!!!
- By Maria on 08-24-18
By: Nabeel Qureshi, and others
-
Going Clear
- Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Morton Sellers
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower, the now-classic study of al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with current and former Scientologists—both famous and less well known—and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative ability to uncover for us the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.
-
-
Shockingly Great
- By Michael on 01-27-13
By: Lawrence Wright
-
Joseph Smith
- Rough Stone Rolling
- By: Richard Lyman Bushman
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 28 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.
-
-
Polarizing...in a great way
- By Brigham Larson on 01-24-18
-
Broken Faith
- Inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, One of America's Most Dangerous Cults
- By: Mitch Weiss, Holbrook Mohr
- Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1979, a fiery preacher named Jane Whaley attracted a small group of followers with a promise that she could turn their lives around. In the years since, Whaley’s following has expanded to include thousands of congregants across three continents. Based on hundreds of interviews, secretly recorded conversations, and thousands of pages of documents, Pulitzer Prize winner Mitch Weiss and Holbrook Mohr’s Broken Faith is a terrifying portrait life inside the Word of Faith Fellowship, and the harrowing account of one family who escaped after two decades.
-
-
A must read!
- By laura toney on 03-22-20
By: Mitch Weiss, and others
Publisher's summary
"À la Tara Westover's Educated, Scorah's pensive, ultimately liberating memoir chronicles her formative years as a Jehovah's Witness...and captures the bewilderment of belief and the bliss of self-discovery...[Leaving the Witness] is a suture for anyone searching to reconcile their past and present selves." (O, The Oprah Magazine - named one of "The Best Books by Women of Summer 2019")
"Scorah's book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm." (The New York Times Book Review)
A riveting memoir of losing faith and finding freedom while a covert missionary in one of the world's most restrictive countries.
A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture - and a whole new way of thinking - turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.
As a proselytizer in Shanghai, using fake names and secret codes to evade the authorities' notice, Scorah discreetly looked for targets in public parks and stores. To support herself, she found work at a Chinese language learning podcast, hiding her real purpose from her coworkers. Now with a creative outlet, getting to know worldly people for the first time, she began to understand that there were other ways of seeing the world and living a fulfilling life. When one of these relationships became an "escape hatch", Scorah's loss of faith culminated in her own personal apocalypse, the only kind of ending possible for a Jehovah's Witness.
Shunned by family and friends as an apostate, Scorah was alone in Shanghai and thrown into a world she had only known from the periphery - with no education or support system. A coming of age story of a woman already in her 30s, this unforgettable memoir examines what it's like to start one's life over again with an entirely new identity. It follows Scorah to New York City, where a personal tragedy forces her to look for new ways to find meaning in the absence of religion. With compelling, spare prose, Leaving the Witness traces the bittersweet process of starting over, when everything one's life was built around is gone.
Critic reviews
“In her impressive debut, Scorah recounts her years as a Jehovah’s Witness in China, her decision to leave the faith, and her ongoing spiritual questioning...Scorah’s prose is straightforward, and she has a winning sense of humor about how much she’s changed...Scorah provides a rare glimpse into the insular world of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and her accounts of expat life and leaving her faith should give this candid memoir wide appeal.” (Publishers Weekly)
"Scorah’s book, the bravery of which cannot be overstated, is an earnest one, fueled by a plucky humor and a can-do spirit that endears. Her tale, though an exploration of extremity, is highly readable and warm.... She teaches us how integrity is determined not by assenting to the juvenile claims of fundamentalism, but by enduring the universe as we find it - breathtaking in its ecstasies and vicious in its losses - without recourse to a God. Given the enormity of her grief and the wholesale collapse of her previous belief system, the intellectual integrity that Scorah displays is nothing short of a miracle.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“À la Tara Westover’s Educated, Scorah’s pensive, ultimately liberating memoir chronicles her formative years as a Jehovah’s Witness - a 'life in waiting' that included a sham marriage, covert missionary work in China, and eventual shunning by her religious community - and captures the bewilderment of belief and the bliss of self-discovery. Writing 'stitched the narrative arc of my life back together', Scorah says; her book is a suture for anyone searching to reconcile their past and present selves.” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
What listeners say about Leaving the Witness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lori DiCola
- 06-04-19
Astonishing book, delightfully read by the author
I'm hit or miss on authors reading their own books, but this one knocks it out of the park! She has a welcoming conversational reading style and I found myself talking back to the book, out loud, to the dismay of my dogs who couldn't hear the headphones.
Eye-opening experiences most people wonder about without ever wanting to participate! Shines a light on what might go on in the mind of a full-time bible volunteer on her own, mostly, in a foreign country.
Very interesting. Made me walk twice as far today! :-)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michele
- 06-04-19
Insightful and Eye Opening
So little is known about the inner guts of being a Jehovah’s Witness. So many think of ExJw as just disgruntled ones. It is refreshing to read this type of story too. Knowledge is power and when you know better you do better.
Great work!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- NKJD
- 07-04-19
I’m in Awe of This Book
Wow, just wow. Never in my entire life has a book spoken to me like this one did. Where do I even start?
Although the actual events of our lives differed greatly, I felt like I was hearing my own story when I heard hers. Amber Scorah is every ex-Jehovah’s Witness. A redditer called her “our Katniss Everdeen,” and now I fully understand why. She is protesting a great evil, but not by traditional means. She’s doing it simply by letting the world witness her humanity. She’s showing the rest of us how to not only survive, but also how to retain our compassion and ability to love despite the trauma and loss. She’s letting the GB know they that we continue to survive and thrive after they throw us away, and that we will no longer stay quiet.
More than that, the story was a transcontinental multicultural epic. One of discovery, joy, sorrow, and rebirth. One of teaching and learning, confusion and understanding.
Thank you, Amber. We’ll be forever grateful.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-30-19
Relatable to all religions
Leaving the Witness is such a powerful and heartfelt story and is relatable to leaving any religion. The author’s words and insight are inspiring. Her heartbreak throughout her life and her passionate words helped me accept and move beyond my own religious exit. Thank you for sharing h your beautiful story!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- VAstudent
- 12-27-19
Preachy but Well Narrated
I enjoyed the story, although it is clear the author did not give up her evangelical tendencies. I couldn’t shake the irony as the author in one paragraph chided her former missionary-self for audaciously converting others all the while weaving in a new message of nihilism and atheism. She seems to have rebounded from one extreme to the other. That being said, it was one of the best narrated books I’ve listened to. Still preachy though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- michelle rucker
- 07-31-19
Boring
This book wasn't what I expected it to be. I expected to hear more about the religion and what would make one want to leave. This book was about the authors boring life and it kinda jumped all over the place. Complete waste if time!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Shellie
- 07-28-19
loved the book!
I really loved this book. It gave me so much to think about and reflect on having been raised Mormon. My story is similar in some ways with this author even though we were raised in different religions. The book is very well written and very well read, which is very important to me. Well done!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Isaacson
- 07-12-19
Amazing
My grandson who is 18 just left JW one year ago. This book is so significant for me. I also want him to read it. Thank you Amber!!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 07-12-19
Stop reading reviews and read the book!
Move this to the TOP of your must read list NOW! ...Go on get to it :)
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-05-19
Great in-depth look into JW life
Another former JW here. The author gives great insight into the lesser known beliefs and traditions of Witnesses. As a male, it was interesting to hear about the aggressions that women specifically have to deal with within the organization. Very relatable and well written.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- purplepenguin
- 06-19-19
Delightful, moving, lyrical.
This book was like a much needed friend, that stood beside me in my own exrication from the cult. It helped make the isolation and fear that is an inevitable part of any ecit journey feel less daunting and easier to bear. Her resilience, determination and love for life shines through and gave me hope. I would recommend to anyone that wants to understand the inner journey of what it's like to wake up from indoctrination, brainwashing or any other form of mind control from a group or individual.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 02-12-21
Thank you
I was brought up a witness but left the JW faith 19years ago, however it’s still left me with lifelong guilt and niggling doubt that I’d done the wrong thing. On reading this, that has now finally gone away. Thank you Amber.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Bookworm
- 02-05-21
Couldn't put it down!
What an amazing read. The way Amber reads this is so listenable and heartfelt. I have never heard such a deep explanation of the feeling of a grievous loss. Wonderful book, I can't recommend it highly enough and I would love a sequel
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- LifeattheKumars
- 10-11-20
Read with open eyes
I found this to be a very touching and personal account of another’s experience of life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 03-09-20
Keen Observation, awakening from indoctrination
Very well written cult survivors Bio. Amber is also extremely pleasant to listen to as a narrator and gives a lively reading.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ania
- 02-16-20
Good insightful story
Good insightful story, good writing. Incredibly brave woman who had a courage to reject everything what was known to her and start her new life on her own. I also like that at any point was she spitefull towards her ex husband or lover Jonathan. She described her life with them without being nasty and spiteful towards them. Very admirable attitude that not many people present.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Robert de Castel
- 08-27-19
Great Insight
A great Insight into the psychology of why someone would join a cult-and the emotional toll of leaving.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- p fox
- 07-04-19
Not just for Ex JWs
Brilliantly narrated by the author, Leaving the Witness is a powerful and moving account of leaving a high control group, ironically in totalitarian China. Loads of insights into the country as well as the Jehovah's Witness religion. A gut punch of an ending too, after escaping the clutches of the cult. Highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 06-11-19
Very real, honest & authentic story
This is very well written and read by the author. The experiences and situations are unique yet relatable to so many of us who are now exjws.
I think active JW’s feel that ‘apostates’ blithely give up their faith hurriedly so as to pursue ‘the things of the world’ which betrays a complete lack of insight into the very long, angst ridden process of attempting to reaffirm and strengthen our faith while painfully listening to our doubts and eventually leaving the religion behind for concrete and valid reasons.
Amber Scorah encapsulates this struggle very well while in the unique environment of a country where Watchtowers work is banned.
Excellent book which I’d recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Regina Watt
- 05-17-20
couldn't stop listening
As someone also born into the JW religion.... and leading an almost identical life, (except for the pioneering missionary!!) I found this book scarily true for me. It felt as though i were listening to my own life story being read to me by another. Grateful to know I'm not alone in my life after a cult thoughts and feelings.
Brilliant book.... highly recommended
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Elissa Groen
- 06-17-23
Insightful, beautiful and utterly human
Moving, thorough recount of a young woman’s experience growing beyond the confines of a high control, whole life encompassing religion.
Informative, moving, and philosophical…
I learned a lot; the kind of learning that softens the heart and bridges oceans.. thank you for this treasure.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 06-25-19
A rare insight - truly remarkable
Amber Scorah has approached the topic of leaving the Jehovah’s Witness faith with an inept understanding of what it is like to wake from an indoctrination that pervades your whole being and leaves you lost and bewildered and alone. Her telling of these personal events in life is done with such insight, honesty and wry humour that you cannot stop listening until the final closing words of the last chapter. It’s a rare insight because Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed to speak against the leaders or the teachings and so many stay silent. A must read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David Schmid
- 06-10-19
Brilliant in every way
This is beautifully written and narrated. Completely accurate depiction of the JW life (ex elder here) and the way Amber describes her awakening and subsequent faith crisis is expertly related. She took me back to my own awakening from the cult and the sacrifices we made to grasp our freedom and real self. Thank you Amber for this wonderful, touching and at times heartbreaking account.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Micah
- 06-05-19
A wonderful story.
A great story wonderfully told. Really enjoyed listening to the lifes story told by the Author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
How to Escape from Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Lloyd Evans
- Narrated by: Lloyd Evans
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jehovah's Witnesses number into the millions globally and are well known for their public evangelism about God's kingdom. But beneath the facade of brotherly love and organizational unity lies a captive organization in which doubts are stifled, and dissent is ruthlessly crushed. Once a Witness stops believing, they face being ostracized as a loathed "mentally diseased" apostate. Author Lloyd Evans is a well-known ex-Witness writer and activist. He draws on his firsthand, insider knowledge as a former elder to guide would-be escapees through the minefield that awaits them.
-
-
Extremely Important Work of Non-Fiction
- By MyrtleSue on 11-04-18
By: Lloyd Evans
-
Shunned
- How I Lost My Religion and Found Myself
- By: Linda A. Curtis
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shunned follows Linda as she steps into a world she was taught to fear and discovers what is possible when we stay true to our hearts, even when it means disappointing those we love.
-
-
Great book
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-21
By: Linda A. Curtis
-
'Knock Knock' Who's There?: 'The Truth' About Jehovah's Witnesses
- By: Anthony James
- Narrated by: Dwight Equitz
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of a young man who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, seemingly destined to spend the rest of his life following the instruction of God's "Spirit Directed Organization". He soon came to discover, however, that things were not as they had first seemed. Following a patch of doubt and subsequent in-depth investigation into the religion, the young man began to realize that the things he had previously accepted without question no longer made sense.
-
-
I don't know where to begin
- By Miguel Negron on 10-10-17
By: Anthony James
-
Shutting the Door to the Kingdom of God
- How Watch Tower Stole Salvation from Jehovah’s Witnesses
- By: Eric Michael Wilson
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Wilson
- Length: 14 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book uses the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures to prove that all the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses concerning the Last Days and the good news of salvation are unscriptural. The author, an elder of Jehovah's Witnesses for 40 years, shares the results of the last ten years of his research into such Watch Tower teachings.
-
-
Excellent reasoning.
- By S M Lindhorst on 05-29-23
-
I Felt the End Before It Came
- Memoirs of a Queer Ex-Jehovah's Witness
- By: Daniel Allen Cox
- Narrated by: Daniel Allen Cox
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Daniel Allen Cox grew up with firm lines around what his religion considered unacceptable: celebrating birthdays and holidays; voting in elections, pursuing higher education, and other forays into independent thought. Their opposition to blood transfusions would have consequences for his mother, just as their stance on homosexuality would for him. But even years after whispers of his sexual orientation reached his congregation’s presiding elder, catalyzing his disassociation, the distinction between “in” and “out” isn’t always clear.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Anonymous User on 05-19-23
By: Daniel Allen Cox
-
Leaving Church
- A Memoir of Faith
- By: Barbara Brown Taylor
- Narrated by: Karen Saltus
- Length: 6 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall