AudraFay's Blog

"People" magazine

A Brave Escape from Polygamy

STOLEN INNOCENCE

by Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer 1*

Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, author Wall, now 21,
was just l4 when sect leader Warren Jeffs forced her into marriage with a
cousin she despised. It proved a career killing mistake for Jeffs: Raped and
beaten by her husband, Wall fled the compound with her new love (former FLDS
member Lamont Barlow, to whom she's now married); last year she was the star
witness in the case that sentenced Jeffs to prison for serving as an accomplice
to rape.

Coming on the heels of the raid on the FLDS compound in Eldorado, 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 its
consequences. "Will the devil be waiting for me?" she wonders. The FLDS kids
now encountering forbidden treats in foster care would surely know what she
means.
REVIEWED BY CAROLINE LEAVITT  

"Warren may have been the prophet, but I was the one who could see my future."