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 - Should be in FICTIONApparently the author put together a conglomeration of hallucination, exaggeration, retaliation, and called it ESCAPE. From what? Why? Perhaps it gets more sales (don't buy it). There are too many conflicting stories and tales which led me to say it should be in fiction. Rating:  - Hell on earth or hell in the hearafter, or both.This book provides a graphic documentation of how tyranny, masquerading as religion, can create some of the most pathological societies imaginable, defeating laws and mores that prohibit simultaneous polygyny, slavery, extreme physical and mental child and wife abuse, arranged marriages, nepotism and cronyism, among other abuses. Through a combination of incessant brainwashing and bullying, a few old men run the lives of everyone in these communities of FLDS(Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints), in which women and children are considered and treated like mere chattel. Children are considered inherently devilish, thus justifying constant physical and emotional abuse to beat obedience into them. Women have virtually no say in whom they marry, most being married to men 2,3 or 4X their age and forced to remain pregnant for most of their reproductive lives. Thus, the long term domination strategy of this cult is to outreproduce the rest of the world, aided by occasional God-induced holocausts that spare them. The hypocritical leaders try to enlist state and federal financial support for their huge families by claiming they aren't actually married to these women, when it is convenient to do so. If women attempt to escape this cult, they are hunted down like escaped slaves. Nontheless, a few do attempt, and a very few succeed in escaping. The author's sister did escape before being forced to marry an old man, but was forced to marry a young man she did not love who helped her retain her freedom against great odds. This experience dissuaded the author from making a similar attempt until 15 years after her forced marriage to a powerful psychopathic older man, emboldened by her mother's escape a few days earlier. It was only the ascension of an extremely tyrannical man to the position of chief prophet(and profit), and the ever escalating demonstration that her husband had no regard for her except as a baby-making machine, that induced these 2 women, as well as others, to try to escape this cult, knowing they would be severely punished if they failed. A few reviewers have complained about poor writing and editing, boringly repetitive stories, contradictory statements and too many people to keep track of. Well, with umpteen competing wives per man and umpteen children per wife, the latter criticism is hard to avoid. If the other criticisms have some validity, I did not find them noticable and they were more than outweighed by the nitty gritty description of the deplorable psychological conditions in this pathologically xenophobic community and by the description of how the author's escape finally brought national exposure to the insanities that ruled this community and which began the unraveling of the hold of the power elite over this community. One of the most memorable revelations was the incident involving the sadistic elementary school principal who heard the commotion from a teacher-sanctioned party in a room. Without even consulting the teacher, he began kicking and otherwise brutalizing the children. The teacher was too cowed to explain the situation. Because of his family connections, this principal retained his position despite strong protests from the parents. Another of the unbelievable stories was the reponses to the 9/11 attacks and the later Southeast Asia tsunami. These were cheered as the beginning of an attack by God on the wicked of the world(everyone not a member of FLDS), which would ultimately result in the destructiuon of everyone except FLDS members. Rating: - Totally unbelievable in AmericaCan't believe abuse sexually and emotionally such as this is happening today in America. Makes me angry that women can be under attack this way in the name of religion. Rating: - Disturbing, enganging memoirThis memoir gripped me from the first page. I applaud Carolyn Jessop's courage in leaving the oppressive, violent FLDS cult, and am disturbed this type of lifestyle can thrive in the 21st century. Thank you, Carolyn, for sharing your harrowing tale. Rating:  - Carolyn Jessop IS an "exceptional" womanYou can never know how hard it is to break free of fundamentalist conditioning unless you've had to do it yourself. I have (though not specifically as a Mormon, "just" as a fundamentalist Christian). Carolyn Jessop IS an extraordinary, exceptional woman and this story is a reminder that even in the so-called "land of the free," some people are prisoners--if "only" to the brainwashing they have received at the hands those who manipulate and steal from others and call it "god's will." Thank you, Carolyn Jessop, for your caring and your courage.
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