A friend asked me ‘What was the most interesting book you have read in the past year?’

The past year was a big one in regards to books. I had been living in London, engaging in European travels, recording various notes to myself eg, ‘Iceland in early spring- take more than one jumper, what were you thinking?’, and racing through two books a week. How much of my budget went into the buying of books and the mailing of books home to Sydney does not bare thinking about. I break into a sweat trying to figure out a ballpark figure.

However, one book stuck in my mind for months after reading it, and I still find myself thinking about it. Escape by Carolyn Jessop is a true story about life in the polygamous sect of the Fundamentalist Church of the Latter Day Saints (FLDS), and her lucky escape.

I have always been interested in stories behind such sects and cults. I suppose it is the psychology and effects of brainwashing vulnerable people that fascinates me (from a distance, mind you). I was aware that the FLDS existed but I didn’t know many details beside the fact that they were ‘one of those weird polygamous communities somewhere in America’. I didn’t think they were as extreme as I found out.

So imagine this: You are raised in a community where men are viewed as Gods, that the duty of a woman is to serve her husband (and thus serve God), that to obtain the highest level in heaven a man must have as many wives as possible who give him as many children as possible- and in the background a constant fear of the evil, outside world. Members of this community strive towards this ideal of a large family working towards God and salvation but the reality is strikingly different. This is a community filled with fear, abuse, underage marriage, lack of education and daily survival in conditions of extreme poverty.

Carolyn Jessop found herself at 18, married to one of the most powerful men in the cult and her story is an amazing and honest account of her life in this hidden community. It is hard to believe that this can happen in modern day America. I can’t do the impact of this book justice in a simple review. If you need a book that gets you thinking, that lets you look into a different world, let it be this one.