Irene was born into an Old Order Amish community in Iowa. At age 21 she left her religion and family to pursue the life she really wanted to live.
Irene doesn't really go in-depth about her childhood, her family, the Amish, or her life after the Amish. There are details about all of this in this book, but it isn't in-depth detail. But, I feel there is enough detail to know why she left the Amish. In short, she just wanted the freedom to live life the way she wanted to.
I didn't expect too much detail about the events of her life, especially when she was Amish and the things that occurred after leaving, when in the beginning of the book she says she loves her family, but did her best not to write things that would hurt them.
So, Irene only gives a glimpse of her family and their issues. But, I do think this book gives some insight into the way the Amish think and their rules. However, rules do vary somewhat from community to community.
Saloma Miller Furlong gives in-depth look into Amish life in her book Why I Left the Amish. Saloma goes into detail about the abuse from her family. If you're interested in learning more about the Amish, I'd recommend Saloma's book.
And while Irene doesn't really go into extensive detail, I think there is still some to be learned from this book. I am glad she shared her story and that she is happy. But I do think that she held back a lot on writing simply because she didn't want to hurt her family, or make them look bad.
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