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GOOD SLAVE

What happens when being “good” means losing yourself?

Raised inside the Jehovah’s Witnesses, R.E. Chatterton learned early that obedience was more than expected—it was tied to love, belonging, and survival.

Good Slave: A Memoir of Faith, Control, and Freedom follows a life shaped by faith, family, trauma, marriage, addiction, shunning, and the exhausting pursuit of being exactly who everyone else needed her to be.

But this isn't only a story about leaving a religion.

It's about what happens when you finally stop asking for permission to become yourself.

What Is Good Slave?

Good Slave is a fragmented memoir about growing up inside a high-control religion, losing yourself in the pursuit of perfection, and finding the courage to rebuild your life from the ground up. Told through vivid memories, reflections, and moments both heartbreaking and unexpectedly funny, the story follows a lifelong journey through faith, family, love, loss, addiction, and ultimately, freedom. This is not a book about having all the answers. It's about discovering the freedom to finally ask your own questions.

Why I Wrote Good Slave

For years, I believed my story wasn't worth telling. I convinced myself that what happened to me wasn't unique enough, painful enough, or important enough to matter. But the more I talked with others, the more I realized something surprising: We all know what it's like to lose ourselves trying to become who someone else expected us to be. I didn't write Good Slave to attack anyone or to tell people what they should believe. I wrote it because I know what it feels like to question everything you've ever known—and because I hope this story reminds someone that they're not alone. If this book gives even one person the courage to ask an honest question, start an honest conversation, or believe that a different life is possible, then every page was worth writing.

The Story Begins Here.

Every story begins with turning the first page. If Good Slave speaks to something in you, I'd be honored to have you along for the journey.