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 … 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.
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I’m speechless! Can’t even imagine this life! Very well written
Very much enjoyed the book. I’ve been watching the series Escaping Polygamy on TV and when I saw this book on my list I was excited to read it. After reading it I can understand and appreciate the show even more.
It was hard to read this book and realize all the pain and heartache the author endured. How could any male feel that women are no more feeling than a piece of furniture?
Read 2.17.2021
You’d think that after all the books I have read about the cult break-offs from the Mormon church, I’d not be surprised anymore, but once again, I am surprised and shocked and just blown away by this book.
With the fundamentalists in Mexico [See [book:Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife|275893], Cult Insanity: A Memoir …
If you are interested in Cults and the oppression of Women, this is a fascinating read. What a story and what a person she is to have escaped that life, and bringing her children with her into an unknown world.
Escape, a memoir by Carolyn Jessop, offers a revealing look at the religious cult, Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS).
Carolyn Blackmore, born into FLDS in Colorado City, Utah, grows up a devout believer in the precepts of the church. Her father has two wives and, in her opinion her family is loving and close-knit. …
Tastes like chicken
Fascinating. If you liked Educated, you might enjoy this different but equally harrowing story.
romatic
This book is eye-opening. I have to stop reading frequently because I want to save Carolyn from her won story. Its still worth the read and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know what its like to be raised in a cult.
I could’t put this book down. It is so sad that this could happen in the 2000’s. It’s a scary look at the realities of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and what one woman went through to escape.
Great insight in this practice and the lack of prosecution of all of the leaders.
An amazing woman living a life almost unimaginable to most of us, overcomes huge barriers to save herself and her children. And help bring down a major cult leader!
This is an incredible account of a highly unusual situation. The author took as normal what most would consider abuse. Because of her upbringing in this cult, she was unable to have any alternative view of a world where women were only objects to be used by the men who garnered ALL the authority. They did this by means of twisting religion into …
A very personal look at a cult that devalues women in today’s America. You will wonder why the wife stayed so long in that cult but will realize how easily a woman can get brainwashed even though she is smart, has a job, and raises her children.
This book surprised me that there are people out there using religion for there own sick minded needs to keep another person in prison and be able to create a life to keep the cycle of sickness to go on.
Couldn’t put it down. I think many people seem to be unaware how difficult it is/would be to escape from this cult (and it IS a cult) or have no concept of the way the men keep the women “in line”, how they pit them one against another. I’m not sure I would have been as brave or successful as Carolyn Jessop. I hope she was able to eventually …
Eye opening, a true story of a woman’s escape from a cult. I could not put it down.
It was very informative and thought provoking. I was glad to hear of her escape and only wish others would be brave enough to do the same.. It was a book you didn’t want to put down.
This book was very informative and I loved it!