A true story of love, loss, and redemption behind prison walls.
Before the headline. Before the high-speed chase. Before the handcuffs and heartbreak—there was a woman who felt invisible. Living with Conviction is the raw and powerful memoir of Toby Dorr, a suburban wife and mother who shocked the world by helping a convicted murderer escape prison. But this is not a story about a scandal. It’s a story about what came after. About falling apart and choosing to rebuild. About owning your truth, even when the world wants you to hide. This book invites readers to witness the unraveling and the rebirth of a woman who discovered her fiercest self behind bars.
The writing is highly descriptive… the work successfully illustrates the injustices of the prison system, as well as the resilience and resourcefulness of incarcerated people. Although Dorr describes her background as ‘privileged,’ the prison experiences of her fellow inmates seem to vary only marginally, regardless of their backgrounds; as she points out, ‘prison budgets held no room for compassion.’ An earnest inside view of the prison system and one woman’s determination to thrive within it.” ~ Kirkus Reviews
Behind the Book:
From Unleashed to Living with Conviction
When Toby Dorr first began writing her memoir, she titled it Unleashed—a nod to the prison dog program she created and the now-infamous escape that followed. But as the manuscript took shape under the guidance of a developmental editor, a deeper truth emerged: the story the world thought they knew wasn’t the one that needed telling.
Everyone had heard about the escape. But few had heard her story—the one that began not with a headline, but in a jail cell, when she stood up for herself for the first time.
So the narrative shifted. The book now opens with the high-speed chase that ended the escape—and ends five years after her release, when she found the strength to reclaim her voice on a national stage.
With this transformation, the title changed too. No longer just about breaking free, Living with Conviction became a testament to owning your truth, reclaiming your power, and walking boldly into the life you were meant to live.
NUMBER ONE NEW RELEASE and
NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER TRANSFORMATIONAL category!
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❝ Featured Excerpt ❞
“I shook my head, but my thoughts scattered and drifted like bits of white glitter swirling in a snow globe. Just as my mind seemed to cross the threshold, something primal, something animalistic, some biological necessity induced a higher, more powerful dose of adrenaline. My heart beat faster, but the brutal shock of the crash carved an unexplored union between mind and body—to a place beyond sleep and dreams, to a place more akin to death—where it robbed me of the instinct to breathe.”
What if your biggest mistake became the doorway to your truest self?
In a moment of unraveling, I stepped into a decision that would change everything. But the bars that followed didn’t confine me—they broke me open. This is not just a story of escape. It’s a story of awakening, of falling apart and fiercely rising.
While the escape made national headlines and captured the imagination of an entire country, Living with Conviction is not a story of scandal—it’s a story of awakening. Toby Dorr offers a deeply personal invitation to embrace self-acceptance and unconditional love. Through her courage and vulnerability, she invites us all to move beyond the confines of our circumstances and live each moment with fierce grace, allowing life’s fullest, most beautiful potential to unfold.
Book Club? Let’s Talk. If your book club chooses Living with Conviction as a selection, I’d love to join you for a virtual discussion. Let’s explore the themes of courage, shame, and second chances together.
Book Testimonials
A sheer adrenaline rush and unabashedly honest, Dorr’s memoir unveils a kaleidoscope of emotions many women hold in the lonely places of their hearts.
~ Christine Caswell, professor of Journalism and Communication, Boston College. Retired Boston television journalist, NBC and ABC.
Mistakes of our past can be celebrated as lessons rather than oppressive weights in our future!
Toby Dorr is a beacon of light for all who’ve faced tragedy and attempted redemption and reinvention. She reminds us all that while we may have created prisons of our own making, freedom is real and available to us all!
Sara Connell
Author Founder Thought Leader Academy
Toby Dorr has an incredible story to share. I was blessed to be her pastor for a transforming time in her life. Her story is one of escape in so many ways. It is filled with twists and turns and irony and spiritual coincidence. It seems that God and the universe have conspired to bring us a story of redemption, second chances and learning to live with conviction.
Rev. Dr. Chad McMullin
Living with Conviction is a true, real-life redemption story. With both humility and courage, Toby Dorr takes full responsibility for the actions that sent her to prison but refuses to let the worst decision of her life determine the rest of her life. Vulnerable, riveting, and deeply inspiring, this is a story of one who transforms her tragic mistake into a personal mission to help other women avoid going down the same disastrous road that she did. The sensational aspects of this ripped-from-the-headlines story may attract us to read this book, but it’s the author’s quiet reflections, her dedication to change, and her wholehearted intention to do good for others that make this a transformational story with nuggets of wisdom for any reader.
Betsy Graziani Fasbinder, author of Filling Her Shoes. Podcast host of The Morning Glory Project: Stories of Determination
Toby does an excellent job taking you behind the walls of the broken prison system and bringing humanity to her fellow inmates. She reveals that beneath the reality of her life altering decisions was the innate desire to be loved, have value, worth and significance. A desire every person can relate to even if your decisions don’t result in physical incarceration. Her journey leads to the truth that real freedom comes when we get our love, value and worth in Christ alone.
Gina Hanna, Founder and Director, Beauty for Ashes Ministry
