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Synopsis
Church of Lies
"My name is Flora Jessop. I've been called apostate, vigilante, and crazy bitch, and maybe I am. But some people call me a hero, and I'd like to think they're right too. If I am a hero, maybe it's because . . . every time I can play a part in saving a child or a woman from a life of servitude and degradation, I'm saving a little piece of me, too."—From the Introduction
Church of Lies is a stranger-than-fiction story that is torn from today's headlines. It recounts Flora Jessop's painful journey: she was held captive and repeatedly abused, both physically and sexually, only to flee her "family" and find herself addicted to drugs, working as a topless dancer, and involved with violent men. Ultimately, her story is one of redemption. Flora had an awakening that led her to become an outspoken advocate for women and children who are still suffering in polygamist communities.
Church of Lies not only tells the heartbreaking personal story of a courageous woman but also exposes the FLDS for what it is—a renegade and abusive cult. Flora says it this way:
"I understood that there were others beside myself who needed help—thousands of children and women were suffering in polygamy, just as I had. Condemned to a life of ignorance, brainwashing, and brutality; treated like property; producing as many as sixteen children; dying prematurely, all used up . . . I was so damn mad, I decided I would spend the rest of my life saving every last one of them. Rescuing a teenager from polygamy is like taking someone straight from hell and delivering her to heaven. So far, I've saved a few. But I'm far from done with my journey."
Publishers Weekly
It is difficult for any person not affiliated with a group like the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) to imagine the motivation for living in such a system. Jessop grew up within the strictures of the FLDS cult, subjected to its forced marriages and rampant sexual abuse. Her story is a harrowing but inspiring account of one woman's determination to break free. She relates in rather stark terms the horror of growing up in the polygamous community, the many pleasures she was denied as a child as her elders pursued a pseudo-holiness, forbidding the joys of childhood but engaging in horrible acts of pedophilia. Following her own liberation, she has worked tirelessly and fearlessly to liberate those who want out of the group. Readers will be repelled at some of what Jessop has to say, but in the end, they will be heartened by her efforts to free others in the grip of the FLDS leadership.A (Feb.)
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