Escape

by Carolyn Jessop

[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.