For readers of Tara Westover’s Educated, Jeannette Walls’s The Glass Castle, and Tia Levings’s A Well-Trained Wife, a fierce memoir of religious trauma, immigrant survival, and the long road home.
Winner of the 2025 Independent Press Award in Memoir
She was four years old when a stranger kissed her face and called himself her father. By the time they reached California, the woman waiting at the door had already decided she didn’t want Penny.
Redeemed is the true story of one woman’s fifty-year fight to take back a life that was stolen before she could speak its name. Raised by a cruel stepmother and an alcoholic father who refuses to protect her, Penny learns young that survival means staying small. At sixteen she graduates and runs. At eighteen she falls in love with a man on the brink of being born again, and the controlling evangelical church that swallows her whole feels eerily familiar. For more than a decade she disappears into the oppressive role of the good Christian wife, until a baseless lie gets her excommunicated. Broke and contemplating suicide, she begins the slow, holy work of rebuilding herself—until finally, at fifty-three, she comes home through a conversion to Judaism.
An intimate portrait of the tradwife pipeline now reshaping American politics and a love letter to every woman who has been told to be quiet, be small, be good, Redeemed is the proof that the way home is forward.
“About trauma, lost love, and the determined push toward success, Redeemed is a powerful memoir.” —Foreword Reviews
Industry Reviews
"Articulate, emotional prose brings readers into the author's struggle to reclaim her inner strength and begin a new life . . ."
-Kirkus Reviews
“About trauma, lost love, and the determined push toward success, Redeemed is a powerful memoir.”
—Foreword Reviews
“. . . Redeemed is a highly recommended memoir that is sure to reinstate enduring hope for a better tomorrow in those who need it most.”
—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review
“With unflinching honesty and raw vulnerability, this memoir offers a powerful message of hope and healing. The author's journey from victim to victor is a testament to the power of determination and our will to be happy. I was spellbound.”
—Julian Guthrie, New York Times best-selling author of Alpha Girls
“A remarkably assured debut. Your heart will ache for the author of this rise-from-the-ashes memoir as you compulsively turn each page, but you’ll never stop rooting for her to come out on top.”
—By John J. Geoghegan, best-selling author of Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow
“Written like a thriller, told by a truth-teller, The Hungarian Girl presents an intimate portrait of a woman’s survival from a traumatized and abusive immigrant family to the underbelly of American cults into freedom and awareness. Penny’s honesty and pragmatic storytelling allows us to follow the facts of this twisted story and cheer for her when she finally becomes free. From this very unique story, we can feel the harrowing effects war has on generations—and how it takes lifetimes and a courageous spirit to rise above.”
—Rebecca Woolf, author of All of This: A Memoir of Death and Desire
“The narrative will stir strong emotions in the reader and hopefully prompt more people to speak out and report abuse. A compelling, gripping story that ends in redemption.”
—Linda Moore, author of Attribution and Five Days in Bogota
“I found myself incredibly inspired by this author’s resilience and ability to overcome circumstances that were beyond her control. Much like The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, this memoir almost reads like a thriller.”
—Corrine Pritchett, Publicist, Books Forward
“Penny Lane’s memoir of childhood trauma is engrossing and terrifying. Carefully crafted and beautifully written, this memoir is a tribute to resilience and, in the end, to family and love and belonging.”
—Ellen Barker, author of East of Troost and Still Needs Work
“The author had me from the start and kept me riveted throughout her harrowing story. Few among us can not only survive a painful and emotionally abusive childhood but also go on to thrive and make deep meaning of our lives. Penny Lane has done that, and has written a tour de force that will resonate with so many people. This is a book that will be spoken of for a long time.”
—Joanne Greene, author of By Accident
“I was hooked from the first words of this engaging memoir—I strongly recommend it.”
—Lally Pia, MD, author of The Fortune Seeker’s Prophecy
“Penny Lane’s memoir confronts the stark realities of childhood trauma with unflinching honesty. Though it may be triggering for some, I found myself drawn into Penny’s world. This memoir is a poignant reminder that while scars may linger, they need not define us, and that true redemption lies in the courage to reclaim one’s own story.”
—Jude Berman, author of The Healing Zone and The Die
“Penny
