
Stolen Innocence
My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
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Narrated by:
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Renée Raudman
About this listen
Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells the incredible 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, explaining how her family's turbulent past intersected with her strong will and identified her as a girl who needed to be controlled through marriage. Detailing how Warren Jeffs's influence over the church twisted its already rigid beliefs in dangerous new directions, Wall portrays the inescapable mind-set and unrelenting pressure that forced her to wed despite her repeated protests that she was too young.
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. Yet even in those bleak times, she retained a sliver of hope that one day she would find a way out, and one snowy night that came in the form of a rugged stranger named Lamont Barlow. Their chance encounter set in motion a friendship and eventual romance that gave her the strength she needed to break free from her past and sever the chains of the church. But though she was out of the FLDS, Wall would still have to face Jeffs---this time in court.
©2008 Elissa Wall (P)2008 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Author is definitely dedicated
- By Felisa Kay on 09-15-20
By: Misty Griffin
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Shunned
- How I Lost My Religion and Found Myself
- By: Linda A. Curtis
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Shunned follows Linda as she steps into a world she was taught to fear and discovers what is possible when we stay true to our hearts, even when it means disappointing those we love.
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Great book
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-21
By: Linda A. Curtis
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Prophet's Prey
- My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints
- By: Sam Brower, Jon Krakauer
- Narrated by: Jonah Cummings
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Despite considerable press coverage and a lengthy trial, the full story of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints has remained largely untold. Only one man can reveal the whole, astounding truth: Sam Brower, the private investigator who devoted years of his life to breaking open the secret practices of the FLDS and bringing Warren Jeffs and his inner circle to justice.
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Incredible Story of the FLDS
- By S on 11-11-11
By: Sam Brower, and others
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Breaking Free
- How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs
- By: Rachel Jeffs
- Narrated by: Rachel Jeffs
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey.
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Heart breaking addition to the FLDS cult story
- By Abby Martin on 12-10-17
By: Rachel Jeffs
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My Sweet Angel
- The True Story of Lacey Spears, the Seemingly Perfect Mother Who Murdered Her Son in Cold Blood
- By: John Glatt
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Lacey Spears made international headlines in January 2015, when she was charged with the "depraved mind" murder of her five-year-old son, Garnett. Prosecutors alleged that the 27-year-old mother had poisoned him with high concentrations of salt through his stomach tube. To the outside world, Lacey had seemed like the perfect mother, regularly posting dramatic updates on her son's harrowing medical problems. But in reality, Lacey was a textbook case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.
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Narration UGH
- By Linda on 01-05-18
By: John Glatt
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Escape
- By: Carolyn Jessop, Laura Palmer
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When she was 18 years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger - a man 32 years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born into and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church.
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Like a train wreck you can't turn away
- By Cheryl D on 10-28-07
By: Carolyn Jessop, and others
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Stella's Story
- Thrown Away Children, Book 1
- By: Louise Allen
- Narrated by: Melanie Crawley
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Named after the lager that christened her at birth, Stella's life is characterised instability and neglect. Her teenage mother abandons her in the first few weeks of her life, and left in the 'care' of her father, she ends up lying deserted in a house with no food, no water, no clothes and no warmth. She eventually lands in the care of foster carer Louise, who is determined to change her life for the better.
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Heartbreaking and wonderful!
- By Deb S. on 10-28-24
By: Louise Allen
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Behind Blue Curtains
- A True Crime Memoir of an Amish Woman's Survival, Escape, and Pursuit of Justice
- By: Lizzy Hershberger, M. Maeve Eagan
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lizzy Hershberger turns fourteen, her schooling ends at eighth grade, and she has no choice but to leave home to work as an unpaid maid for another family. To avoid being rejected by her ultra-conservative Swartzentruber Amish family and community, Lizzy is forced to abandon her dreams because they are “too worldly.” After being raped by an Amish deacon over two dozen times, Lizzy makes her first attempt at “jumping the fence” to pursue a non-Amish lifestyle. But without any modern life experience or education, Lizzy must decide whether the risks of this unpredictable and ...
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Such bravery and truth
- By Amazon Customer on 02-19-24
By: Lizzy Hershberger, and others
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Cult Insanity
- A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement
- By: Irene Spencer
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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In Cult Insanity, Spencer reveals the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil---a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order---and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. Cult Insanity is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.
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Not as good as the First
- By Debra A on 12-07-09
By: Irene Spencer
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The Witness Wore Red
- The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
- By: Rebecca Musser, M. Bridget Cook
- Narrated by: Rebecca Musser
- Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The revealing and inspiring memoir of a woman forced into polygamous marriage in FLDS Church and her brave struggle to protect others from the same fate. Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs.
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Compelling and emotional read
- By Briley on 10-08-13
By: Rebecca Musser, and others
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We Thought We Knew You
- A Terrifying True Story of Secrets, Betrayal, Deception, and Murder
- By: M. William Phelps
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2015, Mary Yoder returned home from the chiropractic center that she operated with her husband, Bill, complaining that she felt unwell. Mary, health-conscious and vibrant, was suddenly vomiting, sweating, and weak. Doctors in the ER and ICU were baffled as to the cause of her rapidly progressing illness. Her loved ones - including Bill and their children, Adam, Tamryn, and Liana - gathered in shock to say good-bye. In the weeks that followed Mary's death, the grief-stricken family received startling news from the medical examiner: Mary had been deliberately poisoned with colchicine.
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Way too repetitive
- By Elbieluv on 02-24-21
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Daughter of Gloriavale
- My Life in a Religious Cult
- By: Lilia Tarawa
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In this personal account, Lilia Tarawa exposes the shocking secrets of the cult, with its rigid rules and oppressive control of women. She describes her fear when her family questioned Gloriavale's beliefs and practices. When her parents fled with their children, Lilia was forced to make a desperate choice: to stay or to leave. No matter what she chose, she would lose people she loved.
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I found the documentaries, etc. more interesting
- By NMwritergal on 11-26-24
By: Lilia Tarawa
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Wounds of the Father
- A True Story of Child Abuse, Betrayal, and Redemption
- By: Elizabeth Garrison
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In the best-selling tradition of Smashed and The Glass Castle, this raw, eye-opening memoir tells the powerful story of Elizabeth Garrison's fractured childhood, descent into teenage drug addiction, and struggle to overcome nearly insurmountable odds. Elizabeth invites the listener behind the closed doors of a picture-perfect Christian family to reveal a dark, hidden world of child abuse, domestic violence, and chilling family secrets all performed in the name of God under the tyrannical rule of her father.
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A Reader's Comments
- By Kindle Customer on 06-08-19
A shocking and emotional telling of betrayal
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The story is well told and fairly well organized. The narrator's childish voice really works because the author was such a young girl when the events occured.
If you have an interest in the lives of women and children in the FLDS I reccomend this book to you!
You thought your teens were rough....
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Amazing story
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I wasn’t keen on the reader’s voice. The half crying as she performed sad parts of the book made it feel melodramatic and took away from the biting reality of the events.
It’s jarring how easy an abused person can grow to normalize things
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Cultism of the FLDS Finally Understood
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Elisa and her strength
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Loved reading a story about the strength of a determined woman!
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Excellent story, poor narration
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wonderful tale
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very educational
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