Escape

by Carolyn Jessop

In the closed world of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, Carolyn Jessop was forced to obey her controlling husband's every demand. She had no money, no power and existed as one of six wives battling for her husband's attention.

For seventeen years Carolyn suffered for the sake of her children. She tried to protect them as the cult's new leader, Warren Jeffs, started marrying girls off younger and younger. But when Carolyn discovered that her twelve-year-old daughter had spent three days at Jeffs' home, she knew she had to do everything in her power to take her children and flee.

At 35 Carolyn escaped. This is her harrowing - and ultimately triumphant - story

• ISBN10: 0767927567
• ISBN13: 9780767927567
• Publish Date: 31 December 2007 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Out of Print: 22 September 2010
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 413
• Language: English

Reviews

[sstaley]

There are times when I'm caught up with books I've promised to review and get to read books that have been sitting there for years. Escape is one of those books I've always wanted to read and finally got the chance to read in April. I picked it up and within 24 hours it was finished. This story is gripping and holds you prisoner because you can't believe what you are truly reading.

Being from Utah, and a member of the LDS church, I've always known "about" the FLDS church being there and supposedly what goes on in their compounds.Most of us do not truly know what abuses go on within these plural marriages and what happens in the lives of these poor women and children. Escape gives you an insight into the world of this religious sect or cult as some people call it. As an independent woman, so much of what happened made me cringe to read this account where most freedoms are taken away from the women.

I could also relate as a mother who would do anything for her children. Carolyn put up with much abuse in order to protect her children and keep them from harm within the family or from them being taken away from her. Be forewarned, this is not light reading, but a story of psychological abuse from her husband, bullying from the other Sister Wives, and a story of one courageous woman who did everything to leave a lifestyle that was damaging to her and her children.

I would love to meet Carolyn to give her a HUGE hug and tell her "Bravo" for being brave and persistent. It is gratifying to know that in the end she escapes, but even knowing this, you hold your breath until the very end when freedom is finally there for her and the children. After reading Carolyn's story, you will never be able to hear the word FLDS again and not think about this intense and crazy world that amazingly she was able to leave and begin a new life.

[ibeforem]

I’ve read about FLDS communities before, specifically in Under the Banner of Heaven. But I’m not sure any FLDS community compares to the one that has been built by the Jeffs. Because of that, Carolyn Jessop’s story is certainly an interesting one. Through her eyes, you see the transition from a fairly standard FLDS community (with all of its many inherent faults) to one that is perverted for the sake of power, and to sate the lust of an elite group of men.

Unfortunately, this book was in dire need of an editor. Jessop had a co-writer, but you wouldn’t know it based on the organization of the story. There was an incredible amount of repetition, to the point that you wondered if she wrote each chapter entirely separately and therefore thought she had to explain things every time. For example, we are told multiple times that a woman’s worth is tied to whether or not her husband is willing to have sex with her, but explaining that concept to us once was more than enough. She should have then trusted the reader to realize that the wives Merril wasn’t sleeping with weren’t in favor, either in the family or in the community.

She also contradicts herself more than a few times, especially when it came to who was or wasn’t helping her take care of her children. All of these things could have been caught by a good editor, and fixed by a competent co-writer.

The other problem I had with the memoir is that despite it being titled Escape, very little of the book actually focuses on their lives after the escape. I would have much preferred it if several of the repetitious examples from earlier in the story had been cut in favor of a more in depth look at her life on the outside. It is basically glossed over, with very few details provided after the first few crucial weeks.

And please, understand, FLDS is not the same as Mormon. They may have started in the same place, but they are the same no longer.

Overall, I found her story compelling, and I certainly kept turning the pages. But I feel like I was sold a bill of goods that I did not receive.

[mbtc]

This book was very interesting. The story is almost hard to believe, hearing it from an insider in the community. You feel like you are almost a part of the community as well. I would recommend this book to anyone intrigued by the polygamous lifestyle. But be aware, it's not pretty.