Winner of the IPPY Award for Best Non-Fiction Series of 2023

Train Gone (an expression in American Sign Language meaning “you missed out”) is the memoir of a young-girl-turned-woman in search of personal freedom. Being a Child Of Deaf Adults (CODA), Rebekah grew up not only interpreting the monotony of day-to-day life but also scriptural intimidation via the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Raised under the heavy hand of theocratic order, Rebekah rebels, is disfellowshipped, and subsequently struggles to make good choices in a new-to-her world.

Rebekah is disoriented, abused, damaged. After nine years—and a slew of reckless, amoral decisions—Rebekah returns to the Kingdom Hall, quickly realizing she’s made a grave mistake. Led by her strong intuition, she leaves the Truth again and is shunned once more. Feeling defeated and alone, Rebekah begins therapy. As pieces of her life come together, a bigger picture is unveiled and somewhere on the train tracks of her childhood, Rebekah discovers truth, acceptance, and autonomy.

Recalling sessions with her therapist, Joel, Rebekah finds herself candid and a bit jocose. This daring memoir explores the after-effects of heavy-handed cult mind control, and what one woman must do to break free. Train Gone is a unique life story where Rebekah straddles not only the everyday world and that of a doomsday cult, but also both the Deaf and hearing world, being the first ex-Jehovah’s Witness CODA to publish her story.

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