Escape - Carolyn Jessop (2007)Carolyn was 18 years of age, when she got married in an arranged marriage to Merrill Jessop, who was 54 and already had three wives. By the time she was 35 she had 8 children and was tired of years of verbal, emotional and physical abuse and escaped with her children. A very interesting insight into the plight of women in the radical ploygimist cult in the US, by the time the book was written her husband had married his 17th wife and had over 100 children. Women left with no rights, unable to call the police or ambulances without permission of the their husbands, girls as young as 14 forced into marriage with men fifty or sixty years older than them.
I found it ironic that I started to read this book on the evening 'Big Love' was on tv. It manages to make a polygimist marriage look interesting, fun a bit naughty maybe and doesn't seem to explore the misery of many of the women involved. They also seem to dress kind of nicely and have lots of money. Carolyn describes in her books the difficulty of being only given 100 dollars to buy food for a week for six adults and over thirty children, having limits on hairstyles and clothing and not being allowed access to books, computers or television. 3/5
1 comment:
This book looks interesting. I would definitely like to read it!
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