My Memoir: Why I Left the Amish
October 1, 2010 / /
I am so very excited to announce the publication of my memoir, Why I Left the Amish. Michigan State University Press has set the publication date of January 11, 2011. I am about to graduate from being a writer to becoming an author! Those of you who have known me for many years know how amazing it is for me to finally realize this dream. Thank you to all of you who have rooted for me, read versions of my story, or supported me in a host of other ways. This may sound like a cliché, but I literally could not have done it without you. Knowing that you have been looking forward to reading my book has been an inspiration that kept me going, even when the path wasn’t clear.
On November 7, 2010 it will be thirty-three years since I first left the Amish, and thirty years since I left the second time. During these years, many people have asked me why I left the Amish. Anyone who asked knows there is no short answer. In fact, it takes a whole book to adequately answer this question.
Why I Left the Amish, begins with an unanticipated break in my studies during my first semester at Smith College in 2004 when my father died and I traveled back to Ohio to my childhood community for his funeral. Finding myself back in the horse and buggy world I had left twenty-four years before, and then suddenly back on Smith College campus in a matter of forty-eight hours left me reflecting on the two separate and distinct lives I have lived.
Many childhood memories were triggered before and during the funeral — memories of my father’s mental illness, my older brother’s brutality, and my mother’s lack of protection, which often left me without advocates. Besides my struggles within my specific family, I also battled my feeling of being an outsider within the only community I knew. No matter how hard I tried, I could not quiet the fundamental questions that boiled up from within any more than I could fully conform to the ways of the church, even after becoming a baptized member of the church. My desire for more formal education was always there, even though I knew it would be impossible to acquire more education if I stayed in the community.
My book could not have been written in the earlier years after exiting the community. There has been a long inner struggle of coming to terms with my Amish past. Why I Left the Amish concentrates on my early life in the community, but it is also framed, and I hope deepened, by what I have learned and how I have lived for the past thirty years.
In offering an authentic rendition of what it was like to be born and raised in an Amish community, I hope to appeal to scholars of Amish culture who are interested in measuring long-held beliefs against practical realities, to those in mainstream culture who simply yearn to get a glimpse behind the organdy curtain that separates the Amish from the outside world, and to those within the Amish culture who long to know what the life of a former community member is like in the outside world. My aim is to tell a nuanced and balanced story — one that neither romanticizes nor demonizes the culture in which I grew up, and one that conveys the gratitude I have for the freedom I enjoy in my present life.
Note to booksellers, book reviewers, or members of the media: if you would like to review a galley copy of my memoir, please email Julie Reaume at Michigan State University Press.
You can also email me. Please visit my website, where I will soon post my schedule for book talks beginning in January.
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Saloma,
Congratulations! What a journey this has been for you. I can’t wait to read the book. Have a wonderful weekend.
Blessings,
Karen
Congratulations Saloma! This is just great. Will be looking forward to your book. Love the photo and the story behind it as well. Erik
Thank you, Karen and Erik, for your good wishes. And the same to you both.
Saloma
This is great to hear. You have a story to tell and one that people need to know about. Most of don’t really know about Amish culture and it just appears to be a quaint,idyllic lifestyle. I have begun to hear different things. I’m glad that you have kept a sense of balance in the story. Good luck with your book.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Hi Saloma, Congrats. This is great news. It sounds like a memoir where you have poured your heart out. All the best!
That is so fantastic. Congratulations! Good for you :O)
So happy for you, Saloma! I bet you have to pinch yourself to believe it’s all happening ~ way to go and we’ll look forward to reading it. ♥
I look forward to reading your book.
Wow – this is definitely something I want to read.
Hello Saloma,
I very much like your blog.
I respect your decission, although I would not have done the same,(I don’t think) not so courageous. I can’t wait for a copy of your book. I hope it is a great success.
Blessings,
Sandra.
Saloma –
heartfelt congratulations! It has been a story long in gestation, and it is great to see it in print!
Alison
My relatives every time say that I am wasting my time here at net, except I know I am
getting know-how daily by reading thes nice articles.