Escape

Carolyn Jessop's memoir recounts her life inside the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a polygamist sect along the Utah-Arizona border, and her 2003 escape with all eight of her children. Born on January 1, 1968, into six generations of polygamy, Carolyn grew up in Colorado City, Arizona, an insular community governed by a prophet believed to receive revelations directly from God.

Carolyn's childhood was shaped by contrasting forces. Her mother, Nurylon, had severe depression and beat her children, though corporal punishment was considered proper discipline in FLDS culture. Her grandmother Jenny provided stability, recounting the 1953 Short Creek raid, in which Arizona authorities arrested over a hundred polygamists and attempted to seize their children. The raid deepened the sect's insularity: Women lost the right to choose husbands, and obedience to the prophet became absolute. When Carolyn was about 10, her father married Rosie, the children's cousin and former babysitter attending nursing school, whose financial independence inspired Carolyn to pursue an education. She completed three years of correspondence coursework in under a year and graduated at 17.

Carolyn's older sister Linda fled the community at 18 after realizing an elderly man was angling to marry her. A posse hunted the girls, but police confirmed they had broken no laws. Under pressure from the prophet and their father, Linda agreed to a courthouse marriage. Carolyn drew a devastating lesson: Escape led only to being hunted. She promised her father she would never do what Linda did.

At two o'clock one morning when Carolyn was 18, her father woke her to announce the prophet had decreed she must marry Merril Jessop, a 50-year-old man with three wives and dozens of children. The wedding was two days away. Carolyn later learned Merril had intended to marry her 16-year-old sister Annette but confused their names; the marriage was a business deal to neutralize a lawsuit. Her parents never let her out of their sight until the ceremony, fearing she would flee.

Carolyn quickly discovered the brutal dynamics of Merril's household. Barbara, his third wife, wielded total power through manipulation and physical violence. Ruth, his second wife, had severe mental illness. Carolyn realized that sexual status with Merril was her only currency: A wife in favor received protection, while a wife out of favor became a slave. Despite surveillance by Merril's daughters, Carolyn attended Southern Utah University and earned a bachelor's degree.

Her first son, Arthur, was born in December 1987. Merril pressured her to become pregnant again when Arthur was seven months old. Over the following years, Carolyn bore eight children: Arthur, Betty, Patrick, LuAnne, Andrew, Merrilee, Harrison, and Bryson. Grocery money was so scarce that the family ate tomato sandwiches while Merril and Barbara dined out; when Carolyn confronted him, the other wives joined in what became known as "the famous tomato sandwich fight." Carolyn began secretly selling cosmetics and hiding income, her first act of breaking free from FLDS financial control.

Warren Jeffs, the son of the aging prophet Uncle Rulon, gained increasing influence. He restricted sex to procreation only, closed public schools, and preached about blood atonement, or murder to atone for sins. His doctrines gave men unprecedented power: A woman whose husband stopped sleeping with her lost all status. Carolyn developed a charter school proposal that won state approval, but Warren had it shut down. When Carolyn discovered bruises covering her four-year-old son Patrick, she could not report the abuse to FLDS police, who would side with Merril. Years later, Patrick revealed that Barbara had beaten him and threatened worse if he told.

A turning point came when Merril sent Carolyn to manage his failing motel in Caliente, Nevada. James, an ex-convict in his seventies who lived on the property, told Carolyn she was in a domestic violence situation, a concept she had never encountered. When Carolyn learned Merril had told the family he sent her to Caliente to "get rid of her" and they laughed, she reached her breaking point and refused to have sex with Merril for the first time in 13 years.

Her seventh child, Harrison, fell critically ill. After Merril refused to authorize hospital care, Carolyn's father helped her rush Harrison to an emergency room, where he was diagnosed with spinal neuroblastoma, a rare cancer. Surgery removed the tumor, but Harrison's immune system attacked his nervous system. Merril told Carolyn the illness was God's punishment for her rebellion and threw her across a field when she tried to take Harrison to a doctor. Carolyn wrote to Warren documenting the abuse; Warren dismissed her charges. At a meeting with Merril's wives, Warren warned Carolyn she would be cast out of the celestial kingdom, the highest level of heaven in FLDS belief. Carolyn replied that if her afterlife reward was being with Merril, she was not sure going to hell was such a bad thing.

An eighth pregnancy nearly killed Carolyn, who required an emergency hysterectomy after a C-section at 31 weeks. Uncle Rulon died in 2002, and Warren proclaimed himself prophet. He married his father's wives, preached that he was Jesus Christ, expelled hundreds of teenage boys on trivial pretexts, reassigned women and children between men, and destroyed Carolyn's 300 children's books. Carolyn secretly strengthened Harrison by adding breast milk to his feeding tube, teaching him to eat by mouth, and stockpiling his medications.

On April 21, 2003, three days after her mother fled the FLDS, Carolyn discovered Merril had left town and all eight children were home. Using her sister Linda's phone, she called the police, a polygamy assistance group, and her brother Arthur, who drove 300 miles overnight. At 4:00 a.m. she woke the children under false pretenses, loaded them into a van nearly out of gas, and fled. Betty, 12, was missing; Carolyn found her crying in her room and dragged her to the van. On the highway, Betty screamed that Carolyn was stealing them and taking them to hell. Five hours later, they arrived in Salt Lake City with 20 dollars.

Dan Fischer, a former FLDS member and successful dentist, sheltered the family. Arthur, Carolyn's 15-year-old son, called Merril with their location, but the family moved before Merril arrived with a posse. Carolyn met with Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, presenting an account of FLDS abuses. Her first attorney, Doug White, secured temporary custody; later, Lisa Jones, a former judge, took over pro bono. On June 24, 2004, a judge restricted Merril's visitation to Salt Lake City. Carolyn knew he would never make the effort, and the fight was effectively over.

Carolyn rebuilt her life on Social Security benefits she had secured by secretly photocopying documents from Merril's office before the escape. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder but told no one, fearing Merril would use the diagnosis against her. A GMAT preparation class led her to Brian, an MBA from Harvard, and they began dating, Carolyn's first real relationship.

Warren Jeffs was captured on August 28, 2006, and convicted on two counts of being an accomplice to rape for facilitating the marriage of a 14-year-old girl. On April 2, 2008, Texas authorities raided the FLDS compound in Eldorado, run by Merril, and removed approximately 440 children, though the Texas Supreme Court later ordered them returned. Carolyn testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about FLDS abuses.

Betty, who graduated from high school with honors, turned 18 on July 2, 2007, and left to return to the FLDS. She hugged her siblings, sobbed in Carolyn's arms, and departed on Independence Day. By the book's conclusion, Carolyn has a new home and a loving relationship with Brian. Arthur is in college, the first of Merril's 54 children to attend. LuAnne is an honor student, Patrick and Andrew earn karate belts, and Merrilee dreams of becoming a veterinarian. Harrison is beginning to walk and has said "Mama" for the first time. Bryson is starting kindergarten. Betty remains with the FLDS.