Broken Roads: Returning to My Amish Father is an interested read and was able to connect to the author. I highly recommend it. Five stars.

"Broken Roads" is a sequel to "Growing Up Amish", and for those readers who are familiar with the first book and the story in general, this book will be a lot easier to connect with. Even though the author is very open about his feelings and experiences, they just did not make any sense, and that made my reading difficult. I got tired of connecting the dots, so I did not even finish it.

A story of the Amish of the author leaving his religion heading out to the world.Here he discusses reconciliation fdamily his relationship with his father.Another raw intimate look at the Amish.#netgalley#faithwords

This is a follow up to the author's book on Growing Up Amish that I haven't read. The author's raw and honest writing about the relationships he wants to mend, including the one with his Amish father that he returns home to is excellent. This was such a personal journey, but I am so happy the author shared it.

In Broken Roads, Ira Wagler has written a follow up book to his first book. This one opens up about the Amish lifestyle and goes into details about his desire to leave. He was born the ninth child of eleven children. His parents were David and Ida Wagler and they was raised in Daviess County, Indiana. His parents moved their family out to smaller communities. His father helped start Pathway Publisher with a few of his friends. They wrote on historical subjects and articles related to the Amish community. Ira shared how he felt they were all less than truthful and try to appear like they were perfect people. In the book, he shared why he decided to leave at 26 and travel down a broken road. He ran away from marrying an Amish girl, Sarah and his father warned him that he would pay for it. He left and decided to pursue and get his GED and how he made his way into Vincennes University. He goes into detail about his life in college and even how he wound up at Bob Jones University. He eventually entered law school and revealed how the Amish community doesn’t really use any lawyers because they don’t sue.


In the book, he opened up about how he met his wife, Ellen and how they struggled in their marriage. He shared how broken their marriage was and everything that played into the fallen out and the decision to get divorced. He shared how his childhood friend ended up dating Ellen later for about a year and how that affected him. He shared how he later was able to forgive his friend and how he even joined a Bible study with him. He also opened up about how he wrote his first book and how it sold a great number of books. He also shared how he returned to his father and what their relationship was like after leaving the Amish. He also got personal in sharing out his mother pasted and then years later his father pasted. He opened up about what their funerals was like.



I would recommend this amazing book to anyone who is wondering about the Amish lifestyle and they are curious on how someone was able to leave it. I immensely liked how honest Ira was in revealing the painful past and going through a divorce. I haven’t read his first book but I was able to still follow along with his life story. I also liked how he explained how his father relationship changed over the years and how God was able to turn it around. The book had a few God teachable moments throughout the book but it was more of an autobiography of his life. It didn’t include tons of scriptures. But I still believe readers will be able to connect and learn from the book.




"I received this book free from the publisher, Faithwords for my honest review.”

This is a memoir of Ira Wagler. I don't normally read these types of books. Although I did find this one interesting.

Broken Roads is a memoir of the author Ira Wagler and his separation from the religion of his youth. I thought the story was interesting, as I live close to several Amish families. This is not my typical choice but I like to have a more complete picture of a particular topic. I am glad I read it. And wish the author well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is kind of a sequel to his first book although it's not crucial that the reader read the first one. I did think this book was better than the first but I still had a somewhat difficult time getting through it. The flow of the book wasn't as smooth as I prefer, but that's my issue.
Ira gives an honest account of how his life went after leaving the Amish for the last time. All the ups and downs of finding his place, overcoming divorce and addiction, and his parents decline and eventual death. Such a sad story overall but like he says, it is what it is.

This was a well written memoir that helps in understanding the reality of life. He continually talks about how things are what they are and we need to deal with that. He encourages forgiveness and love.
I received this book as a gift from the publisher for the purpose of an honest review.

This is not a book I care to review. It’s a very personal account and I am not interested in his subject . Sorry.

Ira has the unique ability to give us a look into not only the life of the Amish, but also the life of one who has left the Amish community. His relationship with his father, mother, and his siblings is extremely tangled and semi-broken, but all of them seem to attempt to keep contact and love one another through it all. Ira has overcome many struggles in his life: divorce, alcoholism. He remains solid in his faith, but not necessarily the same faith he was raised on. I think Ira is a very strong individual for the choices he made and also his decision to share his life experiences with others--even the rough parts.