Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape Paperback – March 10, 2014

So many people are fascinated with the Amish. There's a whole fiction genre based around their lifestyle. I think many people view them as Little House on the Prairie...but this memoir reveals a very different story. Strict rules, hard-handed discipline, lack of communication--this is Emma's experience. Her retelling of her first menstrual cycle and horrifying dating experiences show that she was not adequately prepared for these things, even within their community. I like how Emma had faith in God, even though He was never spoken of in her church or family. She shares that she received Jesus as her Savior in a Baptist Church after leaving. I like how there is no rebellion or bitterness.

Beyond basically interesting, i'd call this a "page-turner" to read through and I found myself regretting when I'd turned the LAST page and it was over. Living in an area where many Pennsylvania Amish live, I have certainly learned that all are different and one would not find the same lifestyle and personal conduct behind all closed family doors that Emma experienced. After seeing her interview on Megan Kelly's Show, I immediately ordered her book to learn more about her personal story. I can't imagine anyone reading this and not be hoping she makes a successful "Escape" ! It's an informative story, yes, but one that will draw you deep into a world that you will be thankful Emma managed to leave! Well done, Emma!

In her closing Q&A to this memoir Ms. Gingerich comments on the puzzling fascination of many Americans ("the English") for the lifestyle of Amish communities, and I must confess she hoisted me on that petard rather nicely. It is easy for a man to fantasize about "the simple life", to dream of conducting one's daily affairs without all the aggravations of automobiles and electronics, but when one takes up this slim volume and begins reading the author's descriptions of her Amish life the blinders that have kept reality at bay are forcefully removed. I noted as I read that from a male perspective it might still be something of an ideal world; but when I found myself picturing my daughter (whom I raised on my own for most of her young life) being forced into that life of servitude and crushing obeisance that happy little fantasy quickly turned into a nightmarish quagmire. And it's not just horse farts and dawn-to-dusk drudgery that force one to throw off a lifetime of tunnel-vision. I applaud Ms. Gingerich for the clear and convincing way she has opened my eyes and I highly recommend this book to anyone who might still be thinking as I once did that the Amish are to be admired.

This is not the type of autobiography I had expected to give 5 stars. But Gingerich and her editor write clearly about her life and the author is such a hero that it's impossible not to like her and to root for her. She is unflinchingly honest about herself and about the simple pleasures and satisfactions she wanted in life, and how the Amish world was simply never going to allow her to be happy.And though Gingerich is no longer Amish, she is still very much a young woman with deep religious and social values who is generous with her money and dedicated to improving herself through education and hard work.Her self-discipline and courage are straight out of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House", which are, comedian to think of it, pretty timeless.Gingerich shows that it's possible to break out and build your own future without spitting on one's past.

I have read many fiction and non fiction books on the Amish through the years. I know their lives are not the romanticized ones we read in various fiction books and this book brings that home. The author, Emma, never felt comfortable in her Amish community. She especially longed for more education and in the Amish community children only go to school through 8th grade.What was interesting about this book is it showed what she had to do to leave her home & the difficulty she had. In particular she was very kind hearted and didn't realize how evil the world can be. The other thing is she actually talks about bedside courtship, which is something some Amish communities believe in. It was interesting to read a true account of how this works and to see how lax the rules are for courtship.Overall a very interesting book. There are some very gritty parts so I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under the age of 16 without a parent reading it first.

I rounded up to three stars since 2.5 isn’t an option. I’m surprised by the mostly positive reviews for this book as I was underwhelmed by it. I watched an interview with Emma and that’s what prompted me to buy the book but it was not what I was expecting. The first 100 pages ramble on about Amish life in a choppy unstructured way. Her timeline jumps around a lot and some of the stories are uninteresting. For a book with “The Great Escape” in the title, I was really looking forward to hearing about the escape and transitioning to the “English” (as she calls it) world. She covers it but not nearly as much as I had hoped/anticipated. There are some sloppy errors throughout too, missing words and such- especially towards the end. It seems like she got the first half down and then rushed to write the conclusion and no one bothered to edit it.

Emma had been frustrated at her life in an Amish family and so at age eighteen she fled to 'the enemy', all non-Amish people. The author tells of life as a woman in an Amish community which is quite different from that of a man. Father who is the head of the family is allowed to sit all day smoking and having the women wait on him. The women are expected to work very long hours without complaint. They have a life of drudgery and only have access to crude equipment in the kitchen. Having no birth control, the women have a baby every year and need to enlist the help of their eldest daughter, around eleven years old, to take care of their siblings. However intelligent an Amish woman might be, she is forbidden to use her brain and must submit to the will of God as taught by the men in the community. Modern day slavery trapping those born into the cult.

Very prompt delivery and item appeared as described. Except I was amazed that it was not a hardback at that price, it was almost three times more expensive than noted on the book itself.

This is a very good book and I enjoyed reading it! I do admire the author for breaking away from the Amish, it must have been very difficult at times, but we'll done!

I find it extraordinary the capacity of humanity to hurt one another.This opus is a prime example and it saddens me greatly.Thank you for your courage🙏

I have read many Amish books & they have all been very sweet & idyllic, telling of a perfect & simple lifestyle. I was shocked to read this book telling of the Amish way of life from a completely different angle. Quite an eye-opener! The style is not that of an accomplished writer but is written from the heart.