"Escape. The moment had come. I had been watching and waiting for months. The time was right. I had to act fast and without fear. I could not afford to fail. Nine lives were at stake: those of my eight children and my own."
Thus begins Carolyn Jessop's Escape, leaving the only world she had ever known. Her first 35 years were spent as a member of a religious sect called the FLDS or the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This book details Carolyn's life from her sixth generation birth into a polygamist family through her early morning flight and subsequent court battle for the custody of her children.
At eighteen, Carolyn became the 4th wife of 55-year-old Merril Jessop, a leader in the FLDS. During the next fifteen years, Carolyn would give birth to eight of Merril's children. When Carolyn fled, Merril had 7 wives and 54 children.
The principal of celestial marriage, or polygamy, is the one tenet which defines the FLDS and separates this sect from the conventional Mormon Church, or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Celestial marriage mandates a man to have multiple wives to do well in heaven eventually becoming a god and earning his own planet. The husband is the "priesthood" head of his family.
Except for those living in this community, no one would consider Carolyn's life here to be "normal." Instead of playing Hide and Seek, children in the FLDS played a game called "Apocalypse." Apocalypse starts with the children hiding from the "wicked" (wicked being any outsider to the FLDS beliefs). The wicked came to hunt the FLDS members down and kill them. The game continues with the children being saved by "resurrected Indians." These same Indians rescue the children when the government comes to kill them. Next, the children survive invasions by foreign countries by forming prayer circles. Then, they face and survive famine, only to be put do death if they are not wearing the proper "blessed" undergarments, more commonly known as long underwear. Although she learned and played this game as the "gospel," it would be years later before Carolyn realized the ridiculousness of surviving all of the earlier challenges in this game, only to be put to death for wearing the wrong clothes.
At 10, Carolyn was receiving daily beatings from her severely depressed mother. She quickly learned to become a specialist at studying and understanding her tormentors' behaviors. She learned their actions and adjusted her life in order to survive. She would carry these same survival skills into her adult life as her husband and several of her "sister-wives" became her physical and emotional abusers.
Carolyn had dreams of getting her education and becoming a Doctor. For a woman to be educated, the leader, or "prophet" of the FLDS would have to give his permission. At 2AM one morning, Carolyn's mother awakened her to speak with her father. Her father had talked to the prophet, and yes, she could be educated to become a teacher, not a doctor. Before she could continue her education though, the prophet's "revelation" was for her to be married to Merril Jessop.
In Carolyn's one-sided religion, women have no rights. Women live like this because they do not know any other way. They do not know they have any Constitutional rights. They have grown up knowing they would serve their husbands. They must strive to be in "perfect obedience" to their husband to "be in harmony" with him. Women can not achieve salvation on their own, their husband is their only road to salvation and to an afterlife. The husband is their "father" and their priesthood head. In Carolyn's polygamist family, the wives and children were nothing more than chattel to a tyrannical, power-hungry, abusive husband. The mere thought of calling Merril Jessop a priest or religious man, let alone a father or husband, makes me nauseous. He is a terrorist to his wives and his children.
Reporting abuse to local authorities would only bring more hardship and abuse. The local police are FLDS men loyal to the prophet. The only way to report the abuse without retribution was to flee. Leaving this very closed community undetected, with or without her children was almost unthinkable. Carolyn risked her salvation, her life and the salvation and lives of her children by leaving. She knew if she were caught, there would be untold, terrible "consequences." As a wife of an FLDS leader, her leaving meant she and her children would be hunted down by Merril and his posse of community men.
After escaping this cult, to try to afford her children better protection, Carolyn went to the Attorney General in Utah with details of the abuses in this community. Much later, after more investigation and indictments were issued, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said "I have a corner of my state that is worse than [under] the Taliban."
Carolyn's story includes unbelievable incidents in her community and family of physical, sexual and emotional abuse. Certainly this book is most believable because it is so unbelievable. No one could make up the mind-set, cruelty, experiences and most often blind, brainwashed devotion detailed in this book.
To say I enjoyed this book is simply not the right statement. I am very glad I chose to read it. I believe every American needs and should read this book. Maybe I was naive. Ashamedly, I never knew. To come to the realization that women and children living in today's United States are collectively being abused, denied freedom and their Constitutional rights, is shocking.
Yes, I watched HBO's Big Love. Actually, I never missed an episode. I was also quite enthralled late last year with the Warren Jeffs' trial on CourtTV. At the time, I was a little surprised he was convicted. Now, I know the circumstances and the truth about the religious cult Warren Jeffs led. Warren Jeffs was "the prophet" of the FLDS when Carolyn escaped. He deserves punishment more severe than incarceration. He brought many brutal directives to Carolyn's community and religion. Carolyn's book was published after Jeffs was arrested, but before his trial. FLDS followers still consider Warren Jeffs to be their "prophet." Around the time of his arrest it was rumored he had 180 wives. (According to the last count in Escape, Merril Jessop had 14 wives and 40 children young enough to still be living at home.)
I could not put this book down. But, I warn you, be prepared for an entirely different look at life in "the land of the free."
Note: I have purposefully not used capital letters to start many of the words in this post which, to be grammatically correct, should be capitalized. Normally, these words would note esteemed or honored positions in Christianity, religion and family. In this text, those holding these titles are not honorable or esteemed.
(ADDITIONAL INFO: After reading this book, I have been researching the FLDS, some of the members listed in Escape, and the Lost Boys - teenage boys kicked out of the FLDS community for some minor infraction, when in truth, the FLDS leaders did not want their competition to take the younger women as wives. I wanted to find out what is currently happening within the FLDS and if law enforcement and/or government authorities are protecting the women and children. I do not think it fair or appropriate to add this additional information to the review of Carolyn Jessop's book. Within the next few days, I will write about the new information I have found in my personal blog, http://www.pointswelltaken.blogspost.com/.)
Escape
Author: Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
Available formats:
Hardback, October 2007, 432 pages, approximate cost $18
Audio, Compact Disc, Abridged, read by Alison Fraser, October 2007, approximate cost $18
eBook, October 2007, 304 pages, approximate cost $18
To learn more about the author Carolyn Jessop, visit http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=75833.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Oh What A Slaughter Massacres in the American West 1846-1890 by Larry McMurtry
Many of you may recognize Larry McMurtry as the author of many cowboy and western fiction novels. Or, maybe you know him as the author of The Last Picture Show or Lonesome Dove. Although I know many fans of McMurtry works, I had never read anything by him until I read this book, Oh What A Slaughter. Cowboys, Indians and the West are not really a genre I read often.
My reason for reading this book was because it contained several chapters about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a subject which does interest me and I have researched. I read the Mountain Meadows Massacre chapters and was so intrigued with the history of our American West, the Native Americans and the early settlers, I wanted to read the entire book.
I am not a history aficionado. Growing up in the south, I have always been interested in Civil War history. When I moved to California, some of the first research I did was to find out what part, if any, California had taken in the Civil War. The information I found was pretty basic. California had very little involvement in the Civil War because they were already very busy fighting (slaughtering) Native Americans.
This book is not for everyone. It will not be interesting to experts of the American West or to experts of this historical time period. If you are interested in what was happening in the West from 1846-1890 and haven't already done a lot of reading on the subject, then maybe this book is for you. If you would like to read more about the events of this time period in our history, McMurtry cites many other books which have been written about the different massacres and this time period.
As the title proclaims, this book is a bloody look at pretty disgraceful period of our history. Most of the massacres included in this book are white men, settlers and soldiers killing Native Americans. McMurtry references two battles of Native Americans killing white soldiers and settlers. One of the stories, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is of white men (Mormons) and Native Americans together killing a group of white settlers.
McMurtry does a good job with background information and the conditions of the West for both the Native Americans, settlers and soldiers. In this book he specifically writes about the Sacramento River Massacre, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Sand Creek, the Marias River Massacre, the Camp Grant Massacre and the Wounded Knee Massacre. He also writes specifically about the much studied military Fetterman (Fort Phil Kearny) and the Custard (Little Bighorn) "massacres" and the Broken Hoop, the period of 1871-1890.
McMurtry also references current information concerning where these events took place. In most cases he gives first hand accounts of his visits to these sacred grounds where many lost their lives.
This book is a quick, although disturbing, read. As stated above, if you don't know much about what happened during this time period, you should read this book. This book is likely the briefest historical account available detailing these different events in the American West. Some of these massacres, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre, are still very controversial.
Oh What A Slaughter
Author: Larry McMurtry
Available formats:
Hardback, November 2005, 165 pages, "Bargain-Priced Book" at barnesandnoble.com cost $6
Hardback, Large Print, March 2006, 256 pages, approximate cost $30
Compact Disc, Unabridged, read by Michael Prichard, approximate cost $25
Other books by Larry McMurtry are too numerous to mention in this space (more than 35). A few of his most famous are:
The Last Picture Show,1966
Lonesome Dove, 1986
Telegraph Days, 2006
My reason for reading this book was because it contained several chapters about the Mountain Meadows Massacre, a subject which does interest me and I have researched. I read the Mountain Meadows Massacre chapters and was so intrigued with the history of our American West, the Native Americans and the early settlers, I wanted to read the entire book.
I am not a history aficionado. Growing up in the south, I have always been interested in Civil War history. When I moved to California, some of the first research I did was to find out what part, if any, California had taken in the Civil War. The information I found was pretty basic. California had very little involvement in the Civil War because they were already very busy fighting (slaughtering) Native Americans.
This book is not for everyone. It will not be interesting to experts of the American West or to experts of this historical time period. If you are interested in what was happening in the West from 1846-1890 and haven't already done a lot of reading on the subject, then maybe this book is for you. If you would like to read more about the events of this time period in our history, McMurtry cites many other books which have been written about the different massacres and this time period.
As the title proclaims, this book is a bloody look at pretty disgraceful period of our history. Most of the massacres included in this book are white men, settlers and soldiers killing Native Americans. McMurtry references two battles of Native Americans killing white soldiers and settlers. One of the stories, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, is of white men (Mormons) and Native Americans together killing a group of white settlers.
McMurtry does a good job with background information and the conditions of the West for both the Native Americans, settlers and soldiers. In this book he specifically writes about the Sacramento River Massacre, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, Sand Creek, the Marias River Massacre, the Camp Grant Massacre and the Wounded Knee Massacre. He also writes specifically about the much studied military Fetterman (Fort Phil Kearny) and the Custard (Little Bighorn) "massacres" and the Broken Hoop, the period of 1871-1890.
McMurtry also references current information concerning where these events took place. In most cases he gives first hand accounts of his visits to these sacred grounds where many lost their lives.
This book is a quick, although disturbing, read. As stated above, if you don't know much about what happened during this time period, you should read this book. This book is likely the briefest historical account available detailing these different events in the American West. Some of these massacres, including the Mountain Meadows Massacre, are still very controversial.
Oh What A Slaughter
Author: Larry McMurtry
Available formats:
Hardback, November 2005, 165 pages, "Bargain-Priced Book" at barnesandnoble.com cost $6
Hardback, Large Print, March 2006, 256 pages, approximate cost $30
Compact Disc, Unabridged, read by Michael Prichard, approximate cost $25
Other books by Larry McMurtry are too numerous to mention in this space (more than 35). A few of his most famous are:
The Last Picture Show,1966
Lonesome Dove, 1986
Telegraph Days, 2006
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Murder on a Girls' Night Out (& other Southern Sisters Mysteries) by Anne George
If you appreciate a little irreverent laugh-out-loud sisterly comedy and a lot of southern charm combined with a fairly good mystery, the Southern Sisters Mysteries should be the next books on your reading list.
Set in Birmingham, Alabama, these books have two completely opposite sisters as the main characters. Patricia Anne, nick-named "Mouse," is a retired school teacher and a respectable, proper, Southern lady of small stature. And, weighing in at two hundred and fifty pounds is Mary Alice, nicknamed "Sister." Sister is loud, bold and flamboyant. Although each of the eight books in this series involves a decent mystery, I absolutely loved the interaction and often times side-splitting humor of these two sisters.
The first book in this series is Murder on a Girls' Night Out. The several times married and widowed Mary Alice and her current 72-year-old boyfriend have been hanging out two steppin' at the Skoot 'n' Boot, a local country-western bar. So, when the current owner of the Skoot 'n' Boot tells Mary Alice he is trying to sell the bar, Mary Alice thinks it's a great opportunity and decides to buy. I won't give away any more of this story, but, I do think to do these books justice and illustrate why I enjoyed them so much, I should at least give you an excerpt of the bantering between the sisters.
"We could even have a renewal of your vows. A lot of people are doing that now. The minister could stand where the Swamp Creatures play and y'all could stand on the glass boot. How does that sound, Mouse? I bet you could still wear your wedding dress. How much do you weigh, anyway?"
"A hundred five." I was beginning to feel out of breath like I always do when I am around Mary Alice for a while. Swamp Creatures? Glass boot?
"You were always anorexic."
"I've never been anorexic!" I reached into the bag and put a whole cookie into my mouth. I was still chewing on it when Mary Alice pulled into the parking lot of the Skoot 'n' Boot. It was not at all what I had expected. It looked like it at one time had been several small shops in an L-shaped building.
"They knocked the walls out." Sister explained.
"But, where's the front door?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full. Over there. See the sign?"
She pointed upward. On the roof, a huge boot with Skoot 'n' Boot emblazoned on the side with what looked like rhinestones, pointed its toe downward, toward an arrow that said, "Enter."
"The sun was in my eyes," I lied. Sister is always accusing me of not seeing the obvious, and this time she was right.
This is just one example of the "loving & kind" sisterly banter continuing throughout each book in this series.
I had never heard of the author Anne George or of the Southern Sisters Mysteries, until a friend loaned me the first two books. I liked this series so much, I gave a couple of sets of these books away as Christmas presents. Hearing from you, I know many of you are reading the books I have reviewed and enjoyed. Fearing I would spoil my Christmas presents, I've had to wait until after Christmas to write this review.
I am sorry to say the stories of Mary Alice and Patricia Anne are limited to the eight books currently in print. The author, and former school teacher, Anne George passed away in 2001. Although you may have to order them, all of the books in this series are currently available in paperback to purchase. I am not sure of their availability at your local library. If any of you want to let me know, I will be glad to update this posting. If you read the first book, Murder on a Girls' Night Out, I am sure you will want to read more about these hilarious Southern sisters from Birmingham.
Murder on a Girls' Night Out
Author: Anne George
Available format:
Paperback, February, 1996, 244 page, approximate cost $8
Southern Sisters Mystery Series
Murder on a Bad Hair Day, 1996
Murder Runs in the Family, 1996
Murder Makes Waves, 1997
Murder Gets a Life, 1998
Murder Shoots the Bull, 1999
Murder Carries a Torch, 2000
Murder Boogies with Elvis, 2001
Other books by Anne George
This One and Magic Life: A Novel of a Southern Family, 1999
Some of It Is True, Pulitzer nominated book of verse
The Map that Lies Between Us, 2000
To learn more about the author Anne George, visit: http://www.annegeorge.com/
Set in Birmingham, Alabama, these books have two completely opposite sisters as the main characters. Patricia Anne, nick-named "Mouse," is a retired school teacher and a respectable, proper, Southern lady of small stature. And, weighing in at two hundred and fifty pounds is Mary Alice, nicknamed "Sister." Sister is loud, bold and flamboyant. Although each of the eight books in this series involves a decent mystery, I absolutely loved the interaction and often times side-splitting humor of these two sisters.
The first book in this series is Murder on a Girls' Night Out. The several times married and widowed Mary Alice and her current 72-year-old boyfriend have been hanging out two steppin' at the Skoot 'n' Boot, a local country-western bar. So, when the current owner of the Skoot 'n' Boot tells Mary Alice he is trying to sell the bar, Mary Alice thinks it's a great opportunity and decides to buy. I won't give away any more of this story, but, I do think to do these books justice and illustrate why I enjoyed them so much, I should at least give you an excerpt of the bantering between the sisters.
"We could even have a renewal of your vows. A lot of people are doing that now. The minister could stand where the Swamp Creatures play and y'all could stand on the glass boot. How does that sound, Mouse? I bet you could still wear your wedding dress. How much do you weigh, anyway?"
"A hundred five." I was beginning to feel out of breath like I always do when I am around Mary Alice for a while. Swamp Creatures? Glass boot?
"You were always anorexic."
"I've never been anorexic!" I reached into the bag and put a whole cookie into my mouth. I was still chewing on it when Mary Alice pulled into the parking lot of the Skoot 'n' Boot. It was not at all what I had expected. It looked like it at one time had been several small shops in an L-shaped building.
"They knocked the walls out." Sister explained.
"But, where's the front door?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full. Over there. See the sign?"
She pointed upward. On the roof, a huge boot with Skoot 'n' Boot emblazoned on the side with what looked like rhinestones, pointed its toe downward, toward an arrow that said, "Enter."
"The sun was in my eyes," I lied. Sister is always accusing me of not seeing the obvious, and this time she was right.
This is just one example of the "loving & kind" sisterly banter continuing throughout each book in this series.
I had never heard of the author Anne George or of the Southern Sisters Mysteries, until a friend loaned me the first two books. I liked this series so much, I gave a couple of sets of these books away as Christmas presents. Hearing from you, I know many of you are reading the books I have reviewed and enjoyed. Fearing I would spoil my Christmas presents, I've had to wait until after Christmas to write this review.
I am sorry to say the stories of Mary Alice and Patricia Anne are limited to the eight books currently in print. The author, and former school teacher, Anne George passed away in 2001. Although you may have to order them, all of the books in this series are currently available in paperback to purchase. I am not sure of their availability at your local library. If any of you want to let me know, I will be glad to update this posting. If you read the first book, Murder on a Girls' Night Out, I am sure you will want to read more about these hilarious Southern sisters from Birmingham.
Murder on a Girls' Night Out
Author: Anne George
Available format:
Paperback, February, 1996, 244 page, approximate cost $8
Southern Sisters Mystery Series
Murder on a Bad Hair Day, 1996
Murder Runs in the Family, 1996
Murder Makes Waves, 1997
Murder Gets a Life, 1998
Murder Shoots the Bull, 1999
Murder Carries a Torch, 2000
Murder Boogies with Elvis, 2001
Other books by Anne George
This One and Magic Life: A Novel of a Southern Family, 1999
Some of It Is True, Pulitzer nominated book of verse
The Map that Lies Between Us, 2000
To learn more about the author Anne George, visit: http://www.annegeorge.com/
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