Escape

Sorry that picture is so small! I just finished the most fascinating book, called Escape, by a lady named Carolyn Jessup. It was the best book I've read in a long time...I've just read a bunch of duds recently, unfortunately. It's about a lady who was born into a polygamist family and raised in the FLDS (fundamentalist LDS) community in Colorado City. She married a fifty-year-old man when she was 18, and she had 8 kids in 15 years. She was the fourth of seven wives, and the things she went through are unbelievable.

That Warren Jeffs guy is insane. I'm so glad he's in jail. He was their most recent prophet (still is, from what I understand, even though he's in jail), and he gave the craziest decrees: you can't wear the color red. You can't drive a car unless your husband is with you. You can't have an ambulance transport you without your husband's permission. You can't wear large flower prints on your already-nasty dresses. Warren Jeffs banned public school and made everyone "home school" their kids, but then it wasn't monitored by any kind of state education system, so many of those kids are totally illiterate and behind. He kicked out at least 400 teenaged boys for kissing girls, listening to CD's, or watching TV. Just dumped them on the side of the road outside the community. If any man in the sect ticked Jeffs off, he would kick the man out, and then "transfer" his wives and children to other men in the sect. He would do this to a woman and her children sometimes four or five times. He started building a temple in Texas (where he had the sect moved) so that he could have a place to perform "blood atonement" for people who were disobedient. What is "blood atonement"? MURDER! He was planning to murder people who disobeyed him!! It's crazy.

If any woman escaped, she was hunted down and returned to the sect. Abuse of any kind by a husband to one of his wives was absolutely acceptable. If you tried to inform the authorities, they wouldn't help you, because all of the police in Colorado City were FLDS. You would be punished if you complained about your husband or any of your sister wives. And the sister wives...don't get me started! They would do devious things to get each other into trouble with the husband. They would abuse each other's children.

So this lady, Carolyn, escaped in the middle of the night and had to go through several court trials to gain custody of her kids. She was the first woman ever to escape the FLDS and then gain custody of all her kids. She has gone through so much. Her daughter never got accustomed to life "on the outside," and when she turned 18, she returned to the FLDS. So sad. Anyways, if you're looking for a really, really good read (I was so enthralled that I finished it in a day - same with my sister, my mom, and my brother-in-law), read this book!!