Escape
Carolyn Jessop, 2007

During this spring's raid on the ranch, former polygamist wife Carolyn Jessop made the rounds of news shows, talking about a life of squabbling with sister-wives, constant pregnancy and arbitrary rules. I decided to check out her book because I'm incredibly nosy.

Even though she got out (I mean, consider the title if nothing else), I found myself incredibly disturbed and depressed by this book. Everything in their lives was such a mind-trick. Jessop believed it all because it's what she grew up with, but life got more and more extreme on the compound until schools were closed and women were on virtual lockdown with expired car registrations and empty gas tanks.

Jessop finally escaped the Yearning for Zion with all eight of her children, then won legal custody of them in the first court battle of its kind. The brainwashing runs deep, though -- her oldest daughter was never comfortable with life "on the outside" and returned to live on the compound on her 18th birthday.

Purchase on Amazon here.