Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Laura Palmer Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Escape
Book Review: A really disfunctional family
Summary: 4 Stars
It seem to be a really dysfunctional family with multiple families. The head of the family is essentially a monogamous person who lives in a polygamous society creating multiple problems and abuse.Book Review: A shocking read, even for a native Utahn
Summary: 5 Stars
Like many Utahns, I was brought up Mormon. I have pioneer roots on my mother's side. I grew up in Salt Lake City, knowing that my ancestors were polygamous, and that some people in the area still practiced polygamy. I also knew their illegal behavior was usually ignored because of Utah history. Now I read Escape, which belongs with other recent works, such as Under the Banner of Heaven, as work well deserving of its bestseller status. In Escape I saw a part of Utah that is as foreign to me as Afghanistan. Women in the FLDS Church are treated as breeding animals. Their children aren't even properly cared for. In fact, the lives of some of these people could be worse than being an animal, because most people would put an animal to sleep rather than let it needlessly suffer. No, ma'am, that ain't Mormonism. Even at their best, the FLDS was a sick cult. Under Warren Jeffs it got worse. Men such as Jeffs and Carolyn Jessop's ex-husband Merril have a rude awakening, in my opinion, when they die. I predict both they and Muslim extremists will find they will not be entering heaven but a very hot, very humid corner of hell. I hope those they have injured will be waiting for them. Now that will be justice!Book Review: A view from inside
Summary: 4 Stars
With the current news coverage of the raids of the Texas polygamist in April of 2008; the interviews with the women who are currently in the sect and the many interviews that Carolyn Jessop has given I looked forward to reading ESCAPE. The book gives a real incite into the community. For those people who make the comments about what they would have done in the situation that Carolyn found herself in, her view provides an excellent perspective. She was born into the lifestyle of polygamy and although it is hard for the rest of the society to understand, you have to see it from the view of someone like Carolyn who literally was taught the benefits of polygamy from her grandmother's knee. Hind sight is always 20/20 and we who live in a different culture want to pass our own judgments. However, it is amazing how anyone put up with what Carolyn endured. She must have felt that she was getting something out of the relationship to stay and have 8 children.
What I found interesting is that the conditions in the sect are based on what the woman will attain in the after life.
The book also has universal themes as it relates to the abuse of women and children.
As other have said, my criticism of the book is that it is a little long. Some of the stories could have been condensed and there are a number of incidents that are repeated which results in several other reviewers remarks about poor editing.
Another reviewer who was critical of the book commented that "the author was never wrong." There is some merit to that point. Although Carolyn was in a terrible relationship with her husband and all of her sister wives, she does project a some what holier than thou attitude. But to her credit, the infighting about the sister wives and adult daughters must have been terrible.
It is not until the end of the book that Carolyn makes any reference to the "lost boys" who were kicked out of the sect, which I found interesting. But she was only telling her story. She makes no reference to any of Merrill's son who faced the blight.
She also spent too many pages on the illness of her handicapped child. I realize that it was very helpful for her emotionally to tell the story, but like other parts of the book it could have been summarized.
One of the things that I found totally amazing was how a man like Merrill Jessop finances all of these children and homes. Carolyn relates how she got public assistance after she escaped, but some of the news reports indicate that women in the sect also get public assistance and I wonder if Carolyn did while she was still with Merrill.
I also got the impression that there was more to the story about how she survived immediately after she left, but I suspect that she could not tell the full story because of possible retribution.
The description of her meeting with Brian, the current love of her life was a bit fairy tail-ish.
All in all it was a good read and an interesting perspective. At some point there will be more books written about the FLDS and I'm sure ESCAPE will give me excellent background for further reading.
Book Review: A view into another world
Summary: 4 Stars
Fascinating read. Found I couldn't put it down as I learned so much about this lifestyle that I knew nothing about apart from news articles. As you read it, its hard to believe that is happening in modern day America. Recommended as a book that will fascinate yet horrify you. I commend the author for doing what she has done to give her children a better life.Book Review: A, Riveting Semi-Autobiographical Good Read
Summary: 5 Stars
I rarely read autobiographies or biographies, but I was perusing this at the store and read the first chapter and then decided I had to buy it.
This book is a more intimate glimpse into the FLDS. I read a few other reviews and it seems like there's a lot of shock. I wasn't shocked, but when I read it, it was more like morbid curiousity. I grew up with a few LDS friends and actually have some friends in the greater Salt Lake area. Other than a few oddities in their religion, I never thought Mormons were freaks. People will find whatever strangeness they want to find in any religion. Is it a cult? By it's definition, maybe. Growing up in the San Francisco bay area, I've seen freakier things that have nothing to do with religion.
My Mormon friends in Utah, will sometimes poke fun at the fundamentalists or express sadness. I get the impression that they're sort of a stain on mainstream Mormonism. It's like regular folks in Utah, know it, but don't actively seek the fundamentalists to expose them. Much like illegal immigrants here in California. We know they're there. They know they're involved in something they shouldn't be, but the legal process makes it so difficult to root them out and they hide behind laws that weren't meant to shield them.
Anyhow, this is more like an intimate portrait of the woman who lived this life and how she endured it. It's the story of how she grew up brainwashed and bought into it. Then found herself an advocate against it, but she needed to plan her escape into normal society.
As sad as her story is, I fear there is much more like this in the rest of the U.S. This is just one woman's story that was recently sensationalized because of the juicy parts.
I did find it interesting that she was a wardrobe consultant for the show Big Love and that she ended up with a guy who was Jewish.
I only hope that her life is headed in a good direction. Good read. I had trouble putting it down because it was well-written. It would have been nicer to see more photos, but it is what it is. A very sad story with a good ending.