Stolen Innocence: My story of growing up in a polygamous sect, becoming a teenage bride, and breaking free - Hardcover

Wall, Elissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007291124 ISBN 13: 9780007291120

Publisher: Harper Element, 2008

Synopsis

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.

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 the age of fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of 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, and explains how Warren Jeffs's influence over the church twisted its already rigid beliefs in dangerous new directions.

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.

About this title

Review:

Wall's story couldn't be more timely. Her descriptions of the polygamous sect's rigidity are shocking, but what's most fascinating is the immensely likeable author's struggle to reconcile her longing for happiness with her terror of it's consequences.
-- People

Wall's story couldn't be more timely. Her descriptions of the polygamous sect's rigidity are shocking, but what's most fascinating is the immensely likeable author's struggle to reconcile her longing for happiness with her terror of it's consequences. -- People

From the Back Cover:

`I had been in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) from the moment I was born. It was all I knew and the only way I could imagine living. From his teachings, I knew that the prophet's job was to dictate what was best for us, and that the words he spoke came straight from God. I believed that my impending marriage was God's will, and therefore nothing could be done to stop it. But still, I had to try.
I also knew that I was different from other FLDS girls. I wanted to get an education, and maybe even become a nurse or a teacher someday. I'd come to realize things were possible that I'd never dreamed before. Sure, I knew that I wanted to be a mother, but not at fourteen. I wanted children and a future, and I dared to think that both were possible.'

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Element
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0007291124
• ISBN 13: 9780007291120
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448