Publication Date:October 16, 2007 Shipping:Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children.
When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn’s heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband’s psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.
Carolyn’s every move was dictated by her husband’s whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse—at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife’s compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name.
Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who, in the name of God, deprive their followers the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background, Carolyn Jessop’s flight takes on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs.
Mind blowing!August 20, 2008 I read this book in a day and a half, and it made me want to puke. It did make me cry many times. I can't believe what an evil man her ex-husband is, and the cruelty of Barbara Jessop. I hope Karma comes around to both of them and they get what they deserve. It is incredible that this is the 21st century and there is a society like this where women are pieces of meat. My neighbor from Germany, who is living here in the US for one year, just read this book- her first book she has read in English, and recommended it to me at the time the Texas raids were going on. I'm glad I finally got around to it. Well worth a read.
Great content, okay writing.August 20, 2008 The writing is not especially sophisticated, but simple and easy to follow. I hardly ever find myself so captivated by a book I read it from beginning to end without skipping the middle, but this one I did - in a single evening.
Amazing account of FLDS life.August 17, 2008 I've never been so angry while reading a book, yet I couldn't put it down. Compelling and thrilling to experience her life and her escape. God bless you all.
Couldn't put it downAugust 14, 2008 I lost sleep over this one because, for one thing, it was so riveting, I couldn't put it down to turn out the light; and for another, it is a surreal and disturbing story, even if there is no doubt in my mind that it is a reasonably accurate recounting of events taking place over several decades in a woman's life.
This story sheds light on one of humanity's most powerful, classic traps--the trap of belonging to a particular societal and ideological structure at any cost, and having this exploited by the egos of others.
I recommend this book to anyone not only interested in a fascinating read about an unlikely heroine in a strange culture, but wanting the opportunity to dialog with their own inner being about just what they would or would not endure to fit in with their tribe, and what they would be willing to give up to find their true Self. Carolyn Jessop's triumphant story is a powerful one, and she is an amazing model for trusting and following your inner guidance no matter the perceived cost.
Very interesting.August 12, 2008 I am still reading this book and am finding it very interesting due to the subject matter. Carolyn Jessop lets us in on what it was like living in Warren Jeffs' "cult" and being a plural wife. For anyone interested in polygamy out of sheer curiosity, this is a great book.
