Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Jossey-Bass (2009), Edition: 1, 328 pages
Description
From the Preface: "My name is Flora Jessop. I've been called apostate, vigilante, and crazy bitch, and maybe I am. But some people call me a hero, and I'd like to think they're right too. If I am a hero, maybe it's because every time I can play a part in saving a child or a woman from a life of servitude and degradation, I'm saving a little piece of me, too. I was one of twenty-eight children born to my dad and his three wives. Indoctrinated to believe that the outside world was evil, and that I resided among the righteous, I was destined to marry a man chosen for me by the Prophet. I would then live in harmony with my sister-wives, bear many children, and obey and serve my future husband in this life and throughout eternity. But my innocence didn't last long. While still a child, I understood that the church of the righteous was nothing but a church of lies. When I was eight years old my father sexually molested me for the first time, raping me when I was twelve. I tried to kill myself. Beaten, molested, taunted, and abused by family members alleging they only wanted to save my soul became a daily routine, I ran from this abuse more than once in my early teens--even attempting to cross the desert on foot. My family hunted me down. I thought government agencies would provide me safety if I reported my father. Instead, police and social services colluded with the FLDS to return me to my family and I ended up back inside polygamy, right where I started." Flora goes on from there to tell the dramatic true story of how she ultimately escaped and has been fighting against frustrating obstacles with hard fought successes in rescuing women and children from the FLDS. It's a story you can't put down.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member TiffanyAK
This was a good book to read for anyone interested in life inside the FLDS, as well as the struggle to liberate women and children from the abuse inside the community. From the abuse undergone by children, to state authorities that continually fail to protect them, choosing instead to return them
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to their homes regardless of the abuse they report, this book recounts one woman's experience with it all. Definitely worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member lquilter
Flora Jessop's memoir, Church of Lies, goes beyond the scope of the FLDS tell-alls and survivor memoirs, and becomes an instructive story of what is needed for people not just to fight for their own freedom, but for that of others.
Jessop's memoir is one of a number of memoirs released
In the face of all that, though, Jessop's memoir is more than a survivor memoir and a revealing look at some of the worst abuses of fundamentalist religious sects. Jessop's memoir is also an activist memoir, and it tells a much less common story than the familiar cycle of abuse, self-abuse, and ultimate survival: after recovery, Jessop became an activist, and has since worked tirelessly to protect children from the religious-based oppression of the FLDS. The latter half of the book tells this part of her story.
To me, therefore, this story marked a refreshing change from some of the stories coming out of the FLDS and similar religious sects, where people escaped or escaped with their children -- like Brent Jeffs' Lost Boy and Elissa Wall's Stolen Innocence, Flora Jessop's Church of Lies is also a story of fighting back, and the redemptive powers of fighting not just for oneself but for others. Recommended.
Note: Regarding the literary values of Church of Lies: Jessop's memoir is competently written, her story is clearly told, and her voice -- at turns disillusioned, angry, and hopeful -- emerges clearly, which is what I look for from memoirists. I prefer not to comment further on the literary values of memoirs unless they stand out in some way; the point of a memoir, to me, is a window on that person's life or experience, not the elegance of the prose.
(One final note -- as a freethinker one can't help but be struck by the thought that the title is more than a bit redundant.)
Jessop's memoir is one of a number of memoirs released
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contemporaneously (circa 2006-2009) that document the horrific abuse suffered by children and women in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) under Warren Jeffs and his uncle Rulon Jeffs. Although Jessop did not stay in an FLDS marriage, she experienced the worst kind of religiously-sanctioned abuses. Not for the faint-of-heart, Jessop details child rape, incest, and molestation; domestic violence, imprisonment, and what can only be described as torture; and forced marriage, attempted kidnapping, and coercive, threatening, and violent behavior on the part of numerous members of the FLDS. Finally and perhaps most depressingly, she also describes the routine failure of government agencies entrusted with protection of children to do their job, a failure that must in part be ascribed to institutional sexism as well as corruption and cowardice. In the face of all that, though, Jessop's memoir is more than a survivor memoir and a revealing look at some of the worst abuses of fundamentalist religious sects. Jessop's memoir is also an activist memoir, and it tells a much less common story than the familiar cycle of abuse, self-abuse, and ultimate survival: after recovery, Jessop became an activist, and has since worked tirelessly to protect children from the religious-based oppression of the FLDS. The latter half of the book tells this part of her story.
To me, therefore, this story marked a refreshing change from some of the stories coming out of the FLDS and similar religious sects, where people escaped or escaped with their children -- like Brent Jeffs' Lost Boy and Elissa Wall's Stolen Innocence, Flora Jessop's Church of Lies is also a story of fighting back, and the redemptive powers of fighting not just for oneself but for others. Recommended.
Note: Regarding the literary values of Church of Lies: Jessop's memoir is competently written, her story is clearly told, and her voice -- at turns disillusioned, angry, and hopeful -- emerges clearly, which is what I look for from memoirists. I prefer not to comment further on the literary values of memoirs unless they stand out in some way; the point of a memoir, to me, is a window on that person's life or experience, not the elegance of the prose.
(One final note -- as a freethinker one can't help but be struck by the thought that the title is more than a bit redundant.)
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LibraryThing member dara85
This book is an example of some people would behave if we did not have laws or laws as in this book ,were ignored. Abuse both physical and sexual seems to be rampant in the FLDS and the mothers or women can say nothing about it because they are taught to obey their husbands and 'keep sweet". The
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women seem to have no right to protect their children or themselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member iamexhumed
I got this book from the library and only made it about a quarter of the way through. Ms. Jessop's writing is really engaging and keeps you interested, and her story is unmatchable and the description of the book really intrigued me. I found it to be too heavy though, considering that I read to
I think it's important that her story be told, and telling your story when you've gone through what she has can be extremely healing. However, I felt like I got the gist of it within the first several chapters, and it was just taking too big of a toll on me emotionally. It did get me thinking and start wondering what people like me could do to help other young women in that situation, which has been Ms. Jessop's mission, but I didn't need to read the entire book in order to come to that place.
There are graphic scenes of sexual abuse against herself and other young girls, and especially having a daughter of my own, I found that I could not stomach them and had to skip over them. This book is for reading by pretty tough people, of which I am not one. But even in reading only the first several chapters, she did get her point across, and I have incredibly admiration for her courage and strength.
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wind down and have some positive quiet time to myself.I think it's important that her story be told, and telling your story when you've gone through what she has can be extremely healing. However, I felt like I got the gist of it within the first several chapters, and it was just taking too big of a toll on me emotionally. It did get me thinking and start wondering what people like me could do to help other young women in that situation, which has been Ms. Jessop's mission, but I didn't need to read the entire book in order to come to that place.
There are graphic scenes of sexual abuse against herself and other young girls, and especially having a daughter of my own, I found that I could not stomach them and had to skip over them. This book is for reading by pretty tough people, of which I am not one. But even in reading only the first several chapters, she did get her point across, and I have incredibly admiration for her courage and strength.
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LibraryThing member Cottontail
This book was difficult to read due to the abuse which the author suffered. It is a motivational book, making you want to reach out and help those who are still suffering. If anyone is interested in behind-the-scene of polygamy, read this book.
LibraryThing member TFS93
Very heart wrenching story! It does contain graphic descriptions and will make you sad and angry, but it never hurts to tell the truth, for the truth will set you free. Flora is such an inspiration. It is AMAZING that she was able to escape with her life, and now she continues to put her life on
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the line for those who also want to escape. This one will grab you by the heart and not let go. You may even feel the need to volunteer your time to help someone else. Keep up the good work Flora! Bravo!! Show Less
LibraryThing member Strawberryga
A book about living in the FLDS and how people who get out are helping those still inside escape.
LibraryThing member bookwormteri
I can't help but be fascinated by polygamy and the FLDS as much as I am horrified by it. This is the amazing memoir of a woman who grew up in polygamy and did eventually escape it. She fights for the women and children abused by the FLDS to this day. Flora recounts her abusive childhood including a
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rape by her own father, her marriage to her first cousin and the horrifying other abuses that she saw. A really fascinating and horrifying read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lalunoux
I have read quite few books similar to this one but I simply couldnt fully believe everything Jessop says. Before making it half way through the book theres a blood spattering street knife fight, a mob connection, flying through windows, the list goes on.... I dont exactly disbelieve her as I know
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some of what she says must have truth to it- but it seems exaggerated and I didnt buy it. Maybe the language threw me off. Just didnt seem right. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
328 p.; 6.15 inches
ISBN
0470565462 / 9780470565469
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