Leaving the Witness Audiobook By Amber Scorah cover art

Leaving the Witness

Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life

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"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."--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 thirties, 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. Biographies & Memoirs Religious China Christianity Women Missions & Missionary Work Heartfelt Ministry & Evangelism Witty Inspiring
Compelling Personal Journey • Honest Cult Deprogramming • Excellent Narration • Insightful Cultural Exploration

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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! :-)

Astonishing book, delightfully read by the author

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Amber is such a good writer, and the story just pulls you in. I finished it in two sittings. I'm not an ex-JW, but loved learning more about the experience being a JW and leaving it. But the book is about much more than just leaving a religion. It's about transformations and opening one's eyes to things you've been unable or unwilling to see previously. This book is for everyone, not just ex-JWs.

Fantastic story, quick read/listen...

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As a fellow exjw this story was so familiar and still fascinating to listen to.

resonating visceral story

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The book helps you to understand some of the tenants of being a Witness. I found the book to be deeply personal. I recommend it.

Eye opening and sad

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I could not stop listening to this truth is stranger than fiction memoir. Both the story and the reader are as good as it gets.

Breathtaking Memoir

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