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

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

by ElissaWall (Author)

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.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 448
Edition: First Edition First Printing
Publisher: Harper Element
Published: 01 Sep 2008

ISBN 10: 0007291124
ISBN 13: 9780007291120

Media Reviews
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
Author Bio

Elissa Wall is a former member of The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the FLDS) who was forced into marriage at age fourteen. She left the FLDS at age eighteen and she currently resides in the US with her two children and her husband, Lamont.