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 enlarge | Author: Laura Palmer
Publisher: Broadway
Category: EBooks
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $7.96 (44%)
Rating:  304 reviews
Sales Rank: 969
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Pages: 432
Number Of Items: 1
Dewey Decimal Number: 289.3092
Publication Date: October 16, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 BUY THIS BOOK NEW September 21, 2008
C. Davis (Hanover, MD)
ESCAPE by CAROLYN JESSOP is a book that needs to bought new. One can only hope that Ms Jessop makes two kijillion dollars from this book (after all, taxes take the first kijillion).
Ms Jessop must have a heart like a lion! Taking her children, she left her husband with no money, no friends and no family. All she had was the hope that perhaps away from the FLDS sect, she might have a happier, better life. I can't imagine leaving my job, all my worldly possessions, and assuming full support for eight children (so you know she really needs that kijillion dollars) including one that was very desperately ill.
Not only this, but to even make this choice, Ms Jessop had to assume that what she had been taught about God and the nature of reality her entire life might be wrong. The risk was her immortal soul and that of her children. Her bravery is awe-inspiring.
Growing up in rural Arkansas, I knew plenty of folks who believe that their wife and children were their personal property. Young boys would brag about how hard they were "whupped" by their dad for minor infractions. However, nothing I have seen or heard prepared me for the level of abuse that was described in this book. Most shocking was the "disposable" way that children were treated. Not only the lack of adequate medical care, but also the mass excommunication of teen age boys to keep the male/female ratio "right" for polygamy and to remove competition for young girls was disturbing. It shows that polygamy really only benefits those in power and harms both boys and girls.
This book is written in simple declaritive sentances that grow more complex each chapter. Perhaps the author did this to reflect how her understanding grew over time. The change in style from the start of the book to the end of the book can be a bit grating.
Likewise, parts of the book didn't ring true to me. Some of the events in this book did not reflect my understanding of how human beings really act. However, with one exception, I believe this book to as factually accurate as any memior can be.
Bottom line, this is an excellent story, well told by a very interesting, strong, brave and beautiful woman.
 A Very Resourceful Woman vs. A Very Difficult/Scary Situation! September 17, 2008
Loyd E. Eskildson (Phoenix, AZ.)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Escape" is the story of how a polygamy sect brainwashed children and controlled the minds and actions of its members, along with how one young woman (Carolyn) overcame these restraints to liberate both herself and her children. I found myself mentally cheering her on throughout as she persevered to overcome obstacle after obstacle.
Carolyn came from six generations of polygamists and was coerced into a marriage at age 18 with a fifty-year-old man as his 4th wife. In the next 15 years she had 8 children, including one who was severely disabled.
At the time of her escape, her husband had six other wives - all suspicious of Carolyn. Further, there was no successful precedent for her effort - no woman had obtained full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. However, Carolyn did not let this stop her - Warren Jeffs (sect leader) had started talking about moving his followers to a place she feared was walled in, preventing escape.
Jeffs had previously ended the practice of sending the children to public schools and ordered them all into church-run schools. Carolyn, however, knew these schools were into hard-core brainwashing - teaching sect rules, denying the existence of dinosaurs or that man had been to the moon.
Most women in the sect had less than a 7th-grade education and no life skills. Fortunately, Carolyn had been a public school teacher. One of her hobbies was collecting children's books - 300+. Jeffs decreed that all such worldly material (including radio, TV) had to be destroyed.
The "last straw" for Carolyn was learning that her 12-year-old daughter had been invited to Jeff's for a sleepover; Jeffs was marrying off younger and younger girls.
Carolyn's brother agreed to come pick up Carolyn and her children. The local police were FLDS members and known to stop those attempting to escape.
The State of Arizona had previously tried to break up the polygamy practice in its remote areas. Unfortunately, the 1953 "Short Creek" (now Colorado City) raid brought the wives and children to Phoenix for a trial. Legal maneuvering foiled the effort; the then sect leader's successful role in defeating the government, combined with the temporary separation of mothers and children, reinforced the sect's suspicion of outsiders and the sect leader's power.
Dictated marriages arose because, left to choose, young women chose young men, leaving out the powerful older men in the sect seeking more wives to enhance their favor with God.
Two of Carolyn's children (Betty and Arthur) actively resisted the escape effort - further complicating the effort. Carolyn's position vs. her husband was strengthened with a temporary restraining order against him. Doing so went against the direction of her father.
With help from former sect leaders, volunteers, and the Utah Attorney General, Carolyn was able to get her children past the difficult initial adjustment to "outside" life and into school. Her proudest moments came when Arthur and Betty graduated from high school. (Arthur refused his father's direction to return to the sect; Betty complied.)
WOW!! September 17, 2008
KelBel (New Braunfels, TX)
The only thing I can say, is you have to read this book for yourself.
mormon September 17, 2008
Margaret A. Hanson (Lakeside, AZ)
this book was very informative , had trouble setting the book down. a good read for sure.
Can't put this book down. September 14, 2008
Nancy E. Mclaughlin (The desert)
I've read books that disturbed and shocked me but I can't remember one as powerful as this! That is one brave lady, and I admire her so much for telling her story so honestly. This is a must read!
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