| In this shocking, timely, and inspirational memoir, Elissa Wall details her life growing up in the polygamous Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints religious sect, being forced into an unwanted marriage at the age of 14, and her courage to testify against FLDS leader Warren Jeffs.
From The Publisher:
In this harrowing and spellbinding book, Elissa Wall tells the complete story of her life in the FLDS polygamist sect and how she brought down controversial sect leader, Warren Jeffs.
Detailing how Jeffs forced her into an unwanted marriage at age 14, Elissa speaks candidly about the horrifying reality she faced as a young teenager in a devastating marriage to a man five years her senior. But what began as tragic tale of forced marriage quickly descended into madness, as Elissa's troubled relationship spiraled out of control before her vows were even spoken. The end result of the union was a nightmare of rape and abuse that Elissa suffered at the hands of her Church-appointed husband and in the name of God. Offering an unfettered glimpse into the world of the FLDS, Elissa paints a portrait of the Church that is at once shocking and captivating, as she explains how the confines of her dangerous marriage and surroundings left her with few options. Pushed out of her home by abuse, she began living in her car to avoid the crushing realities of her situation.
And yet somehow, in face of this bleak reality, she never gave up on the hope that she would some day find a way out. That way out came from a former FLDS member named Lamont Barlow, whose chance encounter with Elissa sparked a relationship that gave her the strength she needed to leave her marriage and throw off the shackles of the FLDS forever. Discussing her story through the lens of Lamont's personal struggle, Elissa offers up a unique perspective into the male experience of FLDS life, examining Lamont's banishment from the sect and exposing how men as well as women are victimized by the cruel power structure of theFLDS Church.
But though Elissa won her freedom from the FLDS, she had yet to earn her victory, and here she illustrates how she used her newfound freedom to put Warren Jeffs behind bars. Looking at her crucial role in Utah's case against Jeffs, Elissa elucidates how her testimony helped convict him and how remarkably she arose from this ordeal with her hope intact and her heart filled with love.
What emerges is an inspiring narrative about the resilience of the human spirit and how one woman's determination triumphed over one of the most controversial figures of our time.
Annotation:
Former child bride Elissa Wall speaks out in striking detail about the trauma she experienced at the hands of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FDLS) in this sprawling, tell-all memoir culminating in the notorious Warren Jeffs trial. Stifled by the church?s strict rules, immersed in FDLS culture at home and in school, Wall had little choice when church elder Warren Jeffs pronounced that she must marry her much-hated first cousin. At the age of 14, she entered into a loveless, abusive marriage with little chance of escape. But a chance meeting with another church member during a crisis put Wall on the path to escaping the claustrophobic confines of her painful, tumultuous life. The disturbing intricacies of the FDLS, families in conflict and distress, and a charismatic, controlling leader are just a few of the pieces of Elissa Wall?s story.
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