Escape Review

Carolyn Jessop’s Escape is one of the most harrowing books I’ve read. She was raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). I already knew it was a screwed-up cult. People may titter at Big Love and think polygamy’s awfully droll, but I’ve driven through the communities and seen the grinding poverty. I’ve heard other people’s stories about lives full of abuse and religious oppression. I knew Warren Jeffs was a fucked-up fanatic who loved to rape young girls, and who forced other young girls into lives of statutory rape and forced pregnancy. Some families aren’t completely horrific, but a few exceptions don’t make the status quo okay, no matter how much they polish it up for the cameras.

But as bad as I knew that cult was, I had no idea how horrific it actually was until I read this book. So I decided to review it chapter by chapter. You can pick up a copy here if you want to follow along. Brace yourselves, my darlings, because the journey is intense.

Image is the cover of Escape, which is photo of Carolyn Jessop on a black background. She cradles a framed picture of herself as an FLDS teenager in her hands. She is a woman in her thirties with chestnut hair and blue eyes.

Overview:

Escape: A Harrowing Tale of Fundamentalism and Freedom

Chapter-by-Chapter Review:

Carolyn Jessops’s Escape: Preface

Escape Chapter 1: Early Childhood (Part One)

How a Cult Programs You to Stay in the Trap: Escape Chapter 1 (Part Two)

Preparing for the Apocalypse – Escape Chapter 2: Child’s Play

“Scripture and Whip” – Escape Chapter 3: School Days

Teenagers Stampede to Avoid Marriage – Escape Chapter 4: “New Wife, New Mother”

Fleeing Marriage – Escape Chapter 5: “Linda’s Flight to Freedom”

Trapped – Escape Chapter 5: “Linda’s Flight to Freedom”

Fundamentalist High School Drama – Escape Chapter 6: The Nusses

“My Future Had Just Vanished” – Escape Chapter 7: Marriage

“The Gravity Keeping My World In Place Was Gone” – Escape Chapter 7: Marriage

“I Was Just Another Piece of Property” – Escape Chapter 8: Newlywed

“The Family Scapegoat” – Escape Chapter 8: Newlywed

“Why Did You Kill Nurylon?” – Escape Chapter 9: Tragedy

“Demolished by Sadness” – Escape Chapter 10: Cathleen and Tammy Marry Merril

“Coming Undone” – Escape Chapter 10: Cathleen and Tammy Marry Merril

“I Lost Control of My Body” – Escape Chapter 12: Accident

“We Were Nearly Starving” – Escape Chapter 13: Move Home

“A Destiny I Wasn’t Really Seeking” – Escape Chapter 14: My Patriarchal Blessing

“An Unmitigated Disaster” – Escape Chapter 15: Hawaii

“I Won’t Let You Deny Me My Dignity” – Escape Chapter 16: Giving Birth in the FLDS

“The List of Ugly Realities” – Escape Chapter 17: Marrying into the Jeffs’ Family

“Another Body Added to the Scrap Heap” – Escape Chapter 18: Tammy’s Failed Rebellion

“A Radical Departure” – Escape Chapter 19: Resound of Music

“I Knew I Was Walking a Tightrope” – Escape Chapter 19: Resound of Music

“My Baby and I Were Dying” – Escape Chapter 20: “Warren’s Rise to Power”

“A Harrowing Story” – Escape Chapter 20: Warren’s Rise to Power

“Punitive and Spiteful” – Escape Chapter 21: Charter School

“A New and Dangerous Threshold” – Escape Chapter 22: Merril’s Heart Attack

“We Would Be Completely Vulnerable” – Escape Chapter 22: Merril’s Heart Attack

“A Person of Little Faith” – Escape Chapter 23: Ruth’s Nose

“Blood Atonement” – Escape Chapter 23: Ruth’s Nose

“He Couldn’t Breathe” – Escape Chapter 24: Patrick’s Abuse

Premium posts – see details here for access.

“An Ulterior Motive” – Escape Chapter 24: Patrick’s Abuse

“Jason is a Criminal and is Bad News” – Escape Chapter 25: Turning Point

“He Knew That He Was Dangerous” – Escape Chapter 25: Turning Point

“He Might Kill Her” – Escape Chapter 25: Turning Point

“Why Was I Staying?” – Escape Chapter 25: Turning Point

“I Was Finished”  – Escape Chapter 26: I Take Charge of My Life

“A Sin Unto Death” – Escape Chapter 26: I Take Charge of My Life

“He Has One Option” – Escape Chapter 28: Cathleen Comes Home

“Something Was Seriously Wrong” – Escape Chapter 29: Last Baby

“Pray for the Destruction of the Wicked” – Escape Chapter 29: Last Baby

“I Decided to Let Go” – Escape Chapter 29: Last Baby

“A Matter of Life and Death” – Escape Chapter 30: Harrison’s New Port

“A Man Who Has Inspiration” – Escape Chapter 30: Harrison’s New Port

“All Our Lives Depended On It” – Escape Chapter 30: Harrison’s New Port

“Consigned to the Devil” Escape Chapter 31: Warren Becomes the Prophet

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