When Amanda Knox was released from an Italian prison in 2011 after serving four years for a crime she did not commit, her ultimate “freedom” still felt distant and elusive.

Knox remained the focus of an international trial-by-media circus that amplified every salacious theory her Italian prosecutor had invented to tie her to the murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher. And after her acquittal and release, she was re-tried in absentia and convicted a second time — even though the evidence clearly pointed to the real killer, who was already behind bars for the crime.

Even after she was ultimately exonerated, the tabloid headlines, paparazzi, death threats and vicious online trolling continued to dog her as she attempted a return to some semblance of a normal life in Seattle.

“I was in a very different kind of prison,” said Knox. “It wasn’t made of bars and cement walls and barbed wire. It was made of judgment and being looked at in the worst possible light. I felt that I could not make any mistakes.”

Any twenty-something looking for a foothold in the adult world will make mistakes. But Knox’s were compounded by the ominous threat of extradition and re-imprisonment.

Now she has distilled the wisdom she gleaned from the entire experience in her new memoir, “FREE: My Search for Meaning.”

“A big part of the book is about feeling like I did not belong to the rest of humanity,” explained Knox. “I felt ostracized and isolated; I had to find my way again to connection.”

Knox will read excerpts and answer questions about the book at 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 19 at the Puget Sound Zen Center.

The memoir and accompanying audiobook, both released two weeks ago, are case studies in resilience and radical empathy.

“After being pigeonholed as a monster for so long I felt this impulse to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, because that had been denied to me,” said Knox in an interview on Voice of Vashon. “This led me into situations where I was taken advantage of in very big and scary ways.”

For every misadventure detailed in the book, there are also moments of grace that helped her find her voice in the world. While struggling with post-traumatic depression, she was introduced into the world of the wrongly convicted, where she found community and the strength that came from discovering she was not alone.

“That was the first moment where I really understood that there was purpose to what happened to me,” said Knox. “I could do something really important — be a bridge between this marginalized community and the rest of the world. Up until that point, no matter what I said, it was always misconstrued. People called me a liar and a psychopath and said ‘why don’t you just disappear?’ And yet here was a room full of people who were saying, ‘Please don’t disappear, Amanda — we need you to be a voice for us!’ That was really, really powerful for me.”

Perhaps the biggest reveal in Knox’s new book is the tale of her extraordinary effort to sit down face-to-face with her prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini. In a dramatic 2019 return to Italy for a speech on behalf of the Italian Innocence Project, Amanda told her audience that she wanted to better understand Mignini’s motivations and the challenges he had faced in what proved to be a legacy-defining trial in his career.

“I’d made overtures prior to this, but it wasn’t until I publicly acknowledged his humanity to the rest of the world that he reached back out to me and said, ‘hey, let’s talk,’” said Knox.

Against the wishes of family and friends who feared that Amanda was being lured to Italy to get thrown back in prison, she returned to Perugia two years ago for a meeting with Mignini. Their conversation was facilitated by Don Saulo, the chaplain who became Amanda’s closest friend and confidante during her four years at the Capanne prison.

“I did not let him off the hook for the mistakes that were made in the case, but I’m convinced that all of the egregious things that he did were in fact unconscious,” said Knox. “While I think he was negligent, I do not think that he was intentional in his harm. And the mere fact that I was kind to him completely changed his perspective about who I am and therefore what my role was in the case.”

This year will be a busy one for Amanda Knox. In addition to the new book and the accompanying media blitz to promote it, the story of Kercher’s murder and Knox’s wrongful conviction will unfold this summer in an eight-episode Hulu TV series. The role of Amanda is being played by Grace Van Patten. Knox and her husband Christopher Robinson are executive producers on the series, along with Monica Lewinsky and others.

Knox recently flew to Budapest where the police station and prison scenes are being shot. There, she oversaw the filmed re-creation of the worst night of her life: the all-night interrogation in which the Italian police finally broke the 20-year-old Amanda and coaxed her into signing the false confession they had written for her.

After being allowed some rest, she recanted the confession; but the damage was done.

“I have been so impressed and touched and honored by how much care is being put into this show by everyone involved,” said Knox. “I’m excited for when this comes out, because it really is a collective effort to tell this story in a truthful and meaningful way. It is a work of many loving hands.”

Today, Amanda lives on Vashon with Chris and their two young children. They’ve found community on the island and connection through their regular involvement with the Puget Sound Zen Center. Amanda feels at peace and finally free to live a life that she hopes will be judged for who she actually is, and for her work as a journalist, storyteller and public speaker.

“Emotions are information. Anger, joy, fear — it’s all information,” said Knox. “And what I have come to learn is that going towards what was painful and what scared me made it less scary. People think I’m crazy for being nice to people who have hurt me, but it’s not crazy. It’s an affirmation of what I believe to be true, which is that kindness is a strength.”

Jeff Hoyt is a voice actor who works out of his home recording studio on Vashon Island. Disclaimer: For Hachette Audio, he recorded and directed Amanda’s narration of “FREE: My Search for Meaning.”

LIVE READING

Jeff Hoyt will moderate a live conversation with Amanda Knox along with a book reading and signing at 5 p.m., Saturday, April 19, at the Puget Sound Zen Center, 180005 Vashon Hwy. Tickets are $15, available at brownpapertickets.com, and go toward a book purchase. (Two tickets purchases one book.)

Stream Jeff and Cindy Hoyt’s exclusive radio interview with Knox and her husband Christopher Robinson by searching AMANDA FREE at voiceofvashon.org.