| Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 45 reviews)
Sales Rank: 838
Category: Book
Authors: Elissa Wall, Lisa Pulitzer
Publisher: William Morrow
Studio: William Morrow
Manufacturer: William Morrow
Label: William Morrow
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.4 x 1.5
ISBN: 0061628018
Dewey Decimal Number: 289.3092
EAN: 9780061628016
ASIN: 0061628018
Publication Date: May 13, 2008
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths to which Jeffs went in order to control the sect's women. Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells the incredible and inspirational story of how she emerged from the confines of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and helped bring one of America's most notorious criminals to justice. Offering a child's perspective on life in the FLDS, Wall discusses her tumultuous youth, explaining how her family's turbulent past intersected with her strong will and identified her as a girl who needed to be controlled through marriage. Detailing how Warren Jeffs's influence over the church twisted its already rigid beliefs in dangerous new directions, Wall portrays the inescapable mind-set and unrelenting pressure that forced her to wed despite her repeated protests that she was too young. Once she was married, Wall's childhood shattered as she was obligated to follow Jeffs's directives and submit to her husband in "mind, body, and soul." With little money and no knowledge of the outside world, she was trapped and forced to endure the pain and abuse of her loveless relationship, which eventually pushed her to spend nights sleeping in her truck rather than face the tormentor in her bed. Yet even in those bleak times, she retained a sliver of hope that one day she would find a way out, and one snowy night that came in the form of a rugged stranger named Lamont Barlow. Their chance encounter set in motion a friendship and eventual romance that gave her the strength she needed to break free from her past and sever the chains of the church. But though she was out of the FLDS, Wall would still have to face Jeffs—this time in court. In Stolen Innocence, she delves into the difficult months on the outside that led her to come forward against him, working with prosecutors on one of the biggest criminal cases in Utah's history, so that other girls still inside the church might be spared her cruel fate. More than a tale of survival and freedom, Stolen Innocence is the story of one heroic woman who stood up for what was right and reclaimed her life.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Stolen Innocence July 3, 2008
It was a book I just couldn't put down. It was easy reading - I usually don't read a book that thick in a week like I did. I think it's a subject that most women would find interesting - I'm passing it around at work now. This book just HAD to be written and I'm glad she found the courage to do it. It's hard to believe that stuff like this goes on in this day and age.
Fascinating and scary July 2, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book, like Carolyn Jessop's "Escape," was hard to put down. I found this book even more disturbing than Jessop's, however. It is amazing to me that people live this way in the United States in this day and age-unbelievable. This seems like something that should have been going on in a remote part of the world 200 years ago. Bravo to the people who question this so-called religion and have the courage to leave. It's a shame what the children of the FLDS have to deal with- and what their so-called parents allow them to suffer. The unwavering love Elissa Wall holds for her mother after all she has been through, without the support of her mother, is hard to comprehend. This book shows how truly gullible people can be, and how evil others are who prey on people under the guise and false "teachings" all based on religion and religious beliefs. Very scary. This book disturbed me and made me very sad at the same time. I congratulate Elissa Wall and her family members who got the heck out of there. Most of the adults of the FLDS should either be in prison, or in a psychological facilities. Out there doesn't even begin to describe them. Being gullible is no excuse for some of the things that are described. I feel sorry for those children and everyone who still believes that the FLDS is the way to live. It's nothing but a breeding ground for acceptable abuse of many kinds and levels. The women in particular need to get educated and open their eyes. They're being used and treated like pieces of meat and nothing more. Criminal.
 informative July 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
a great glimpse into the world of the Fundamental sect of the Mormon church. Elissa Wall's first hand account of growing up under the rule of "the prophet" is clearly written by an amatuer, but very interesting if you are intrigued by their way of life and want to learn more.
Great Outcome, But Not a Great Book July 2, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The author should be commended for her instrumental role in getting Warren Jeffs behind bars, and it is good to have an additional voice in the battle against the FLDS. That said, the book itself left a lot to be desired.
I agree with a previous reviewer who wondered why Elissa did not seize upon her many earlier opportunities to flee. Yes, she was raised with the FLDS mindset, but she disobeyed and rebelled against the rules over and over. For all her claims that she believed she had to obey the "prophet," she was not afraid to speak up, even to Rulon and Warren, when she wished. She also led a life that was completely alien to most of its members (not that that's a bad thing). It certainly seems that it was her affair with Lamont that propelled her to leave and not the abusive lifestyle she endured, or she would have attempted to earlier, given that she was hardly the model of a submissive FLDS wife and daughter. Furthermore, she excuses her mother's dreadful behavior by constantly saying that her mother was raised in the FLDS, believed in them, and this lifestyle was all she knew. Then why doesn't the same go for Allen? He was raised in the FLDS, this is all he knew, too, and he completely believed that Elissa was his wife and that he had a right to sexual relations with her. I think what her mother did was much worse. She abandoned Elissa and her other children many times and never even explained to her what consummation of a marriage would entail. Had she done that, Elissa would not have been so shocked and unprepared. Of course it is a horror and a crime that a 14-year old would have to be married, but Elissa says that the worst part of her wedding night was that she didn't understand what Allen was trying to do. Yet Elissa forgives her mother and praises her, understands her mindset, but does not extend this understanding to a young man who was told that this was his duty. I think he really struggled to understand his young wife and was hurt by her. I hope that he is able somehow to escape the FLDS because he deserves a shot at life, too.
Finally, though in the acknowledgments the copy editor is thanked for her "meticulousness," the book is riddled with errors.
This is a one-star book to which I am giving three stars, strictly because at least she did help bring Jeffs to justice.
Very good book, I highly suggest it! June 30, 2008
This book was excellent! It was very well written and easy to understand, considering what a complicated religion the FLDS is. I would love for her to write a follow up book about her life afte the trial.
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