All Categories
Get it between 2024-12-17 to 2024-12-24. Additional 3 business days for provincial shipping.
Product Description "Torah's tale is one of immense trials followed by towering triumphs. She guides us through various moments in her life with such honesty and artistry that I felt like I was there by her side. I don't reread often, but this is a book that I will read again just to remind myself that if Torah can get through what she has, then I can, too." - BRIAN YOUNG, author of Healer of the Water Monster How far would you go for freedom, love, and safety? About Torah. Torah Bontrager is 11 when she decides to leave the Amish. After four years of planning her escape, she flees in the middle of the night with only the clothes on her back and $170 in her pocket. Her departure is permanent. About the book. Amish Girl in Manhattan is a true crime collection of stories about a girl whose childhood was so crushing that she literally escaped in the middle of the night at age 15, without telling anyone goodbye. She left the only world she had ever known, crash-landing into one that didn't speak her language, wear her clothes, and understand her problems. She gave up everything—family, security, community—in the hopes that one day her dreams might come true. Branded a traitor destined for hell by the Amish, she endured repeated sexual abuse, multiple suicide attempts, and extreme poverty. In the eyes of the Amish, she deserved these things for having dared to want an education past the 8th grade and a life outside the religion. Eventually Torah graduated from one of the most elite schools in the world, Columbia University in New York City. The Amish are an insular, underserved, ethnic minority population in America who use horses and buggies for transportation, prohibit electricity, and forbid education past the 8th grade. If you have read true crime books or child abuse, sexual abuse, and religious trauma true stories like Know My Name, Educated, or You Are Your Own, then Amish Girl in Manhattan is a must-read. Each chapter is a stand-alone story. Review "Torah's tale is one of immense trials followed by towering triumphs. She guides us through various moments in her life with such honesty and artistry that I felt like I was there by her side. I don't reread often, but this is a book with chapters and sections that I will read again just to remind myself that if Torah can get through what she has, then I can, too." - Brian Young, author of Healer of the Water Monster --Title previously published as ISBN-13: 978-0989420075 "Love this book. Truly groundbreaking! Thank you, Torah!" - James Schwartz, author of The Literary Party: Growing Up Gay and Amish in America --Title previously published as ISBN-13: 978-0989420075 "This book had me reading it to the end in almost one sitting! A very well written memoir, capturing the author's life growing up in her Amish community, how she escaped and the obstacles she faced." - Lindsay Gibson, author of Just Be: How My Stillborn Son Taught Me to Surrender --Title previously published as ISBN-13: 978-0989420075 "Torah's work is a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Her fierce determination to claim her story while simultaneously not giving up on her people is what saints are made of! We Amish are lucky to have her." - Amish Reader "Engaging, inspiring true life story about overcoming trauma, self-empowerment, and succeeding despite all odds." - Kara, Reader Review From the Author "At age 15, I escaped in the middle of the night without telling anyone goodbye. I left with only what I could carry: the clothes on my back and $170 USD in my pocket." About the Author Torah Bontrager, born and raised traditional Amish, speaks English as a second language and grew up with no electricity, no TV, no radio, no Internet, no cars, and up until the age of 10, no running hot water and no indoor bathroom. She's the author of Amish Girl in Manhattan (a crime memoir) and is, to her knowledge, the first--and so far, only--Amish escapee to graduate from an Ivy League school. Tor