Escape by Carolyn Jessop

Escape by Carolyn Jessop

Carolyn was born into a family that had been practicing polygamy for many generations. She grew up with abuse and insecurity all around her. She watched as her sister ran away from home, scared about being forced into a marriage with a man that was 20 years her senior. She also watched as that same sister was pulled back by the leaders of their community with emotional and religious prompts. If she didn’t obey their will she would go and rot in hell. It was Carolyn’s turn now and she was forced to marry a man at least twice her age who already had 3 wives and around 20 children. That night as he lay on top of her she felt violated and wondered if this really was just a rape. At that moment, a little bit of doubt crossed her mind, and that started her thinking about what else was out there in the real world. Was she supposed to live like this? Her next 15 years were spent slowly planning her escape.

If someone asked me to define polygamy, I would have said, when a man has multiple wives. That is true, and it was bad in my eyes, but after reading Carolyn’s story of abuse, starvation, death, animal cruelty, dying children, and burned books I now realize it wasn’t bad, it was horrendous. Carolyn worked harder than is ever possible to ensure her children’s happiness in a free world, but it almost killed her. She is a hero to her kids and a role model to all abused woman and children in polygamist or abusive situations of any kind.

I greatly encourage you to watch the video below of an interview with Carolyn. It is eight minutes, but it really shows what this lady has been through and will encourage you to read her book.

This above video was an excerpt from a 40 minute video here. Go to it! You can select sections to watch, hear her answer questions, and touch on certain topics.