by Saloma Miller Furlong (2011)
Synopsis:
There are two ways to leave the Amish—one is through life and the other through death. When Saloma Miller Furlong’s father dies during her first semester at Smith College, she returns to the Amish community she had left twenty four years earlier to attend his funeral. Her journey home prompts a flood of memories. Now a mother with grown children of her own, Furlong recalls her painful childhood in a family defined by her father’s mental illness, her brother’s brutality, her mother’s frustration, and the austere traditions of the Amish—traditions Furlong struggled to accept for years before making the difficult decision to leave the community. In this personal and moving memoir, Furlong traces the genesis of her desire for freedom and education and chronicles her conflicted quest for independence. Eloquently told, Why I Left the Amish is a revealing portrait of life within—and without—this frequently misunderstood community.
About the Author:
Saloma Miller Furlong was featured in documentary "The Amish" that premiered on "American Experience" (PBS-02/28/2012) and "The Amish Shunned" (PBS-02/04/2014).
Saloma Miller Furlong was born and raised in an Amish community in Ohio. Driven by her desire for freedom and more formal education, she broke away from her community -- not once, but twice. She graduated from Smith College in May 2007 with a major in German Studies and a minor in Philosophy. Her education included research on the Amish with Dr. Donald Kraybill and a semester abroad in Germany. During her thirty-year inner struggle of coming to terms with her Amish past, she has gleaned a better understanding of herself and of her heritage. It is this perspective that she brings to her memoir "Why I Left the Amish" and its new sequel "Bonnet Strings: An Amish Woman's Ties to Two Worlds" to be released on February 3, 2014.
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