Stolen Innocence (Wall)

Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Stolen Innocence:

1. If you've read Escape by Carolyn Jessop, compare the experiences of the two women in the FLDS.

2. One of the reasons women stay in the FLDS is because they are told from birth that the wicked will be destroyed and that only those who are members will be saved. Additionaly, should they die before the final apocalypse, the only path to heaven and eternal life is to be invited by their husband—who must have at least three wives. While this may seem outrageous to non-believers, consider your own relgious beliefs. Are there beliefs that those outside your faith might find difficult to accept?

3. Polygamy is outlawed in the US, yet accepted in other countries around the world as part of a religious practice. Should our government be involved in regulating marriage—between consenting adults—even if it is polygamous? Why...or why not?

4. After the publication of Stolen Innocence, some members of the FLDS have said that Walls was not as "innocent" as she claims in the memoir. According to Wall's own admissions, they say, she listened to rock music, watched TV, snuck out of the house, slept in her truck without the permission of her husband, and attended beer parties. She also became pregnant by someone other than her husband. How might those charges affect your understanding of the book? Is Walls' account overly self-serving, or does her book achieve credible objectivity?

5. What is your opinion of Sharon, Elissa's mother? Are you sympathetic to her...or not? Were she to write one, what do you think Sharon's memoir would contain?

6. What about Elissa's father, who was never fully committed to the church or her family? Why might he have remained in FLDS?

7. Although many members of the FLDS left the church, many devoted followers remain, fully believing in the teachings. Is it fair to require the sect to live by laws that their faith does not necessarily adhere to? How does living in a non-FDLS culture affect their religious beliefs?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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