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Synopsis

Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.

That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.

Indoctrinated into the church as a child while living with her mother and sister in New York, Remini eventually moved to Los Angeles, where her dreams of becoming an actress and advancing Scientology’s causes grew increasingly intertwined. As an adult, she found the success she’d worked so hard for, and with it a prominent place in the hierarchy of celebrity Scientologists alongside people such as Tom Cruise, Scientology’s most high-profile adherent. Remini spent time directly with Cruise and was included among the guests at his 2006 wedding to Katie Holmes.

But when she began to raise questions about some of the church’s actions, she found herself a target. In the end, she was declared by the church to be a threat to their organization and therefore a “Suppressive Person,” and as a result, all of her fellow parishioners—including members of her own family—were told to disconnect from her. Forever.

Bold, brash, and bravely confessional, Troublemaker chronicles Leah Remini’s remarkable journey toward emotional and spiritual freedom, both for herself and for her family. This is a memoir designed to reveal the hard-won truths of a life lived honestly—from an author unafraid of the consequences.

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My Review

I loved this book so much more than I thought I would. Leah Remini brought her humor and personality into every page. Which makes a tough subject like this so much easier to read. And it’s written as if Leah is actually talking to you. The way friends sit down and talk to each other. Friend to friend.

I don’t know about you but I’m always interested in reading about these organizations and why people get into them in the first place. Then why people stay in them. And stay in them for so many years. Leah is open and honest about all of this. And she owns where she made her own mistakes

If you want some more information about the Scientology business. (I just. Can’t. Call it a religion.) You can get Leah’s first hand knowledge of it in these pages. And she was in contact with the top. As in Tom Cruise and David Miscavige. She speaks openly of how they bring in the money. What their centers are like. She basically takes us on an inside look-see.

I’m not going to go off on a tangent and disparage Scientology. Even though there is a lot that can be said there. But I don’t think this is the place. I do think Leah said A LOT of my own feelings quite well.

This would make a great audio book with Leah narrating it. She’d be hilarious talking about her own life and all that happened. I think that’s a new must-have for me. I have to listen to the audio version of books of funny people’s biographies. It’s gotta make the book 200% better. And this book was great to begin with so that’s really saying something!!!

What biography are cracking open next?