Stolen Innocence (Wall)

Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
Elissa Wall, 2008
HarperCollins
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781616839499

Summary
In September 2007, a packed courtroom in St. George, Utah, sat hushed as Elissa Wall, the star witness against polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs, gave captivating testimony of how Jeffs forced her to marry her first cousin at age fourteen. This harrowing and vivid account proved to be the most compelling evidence against Jeffs, showing the harsh realities of this closed community and the lengths to which Jeffs went in order to control the sect's women.

Now, in this courageous memoir, Elissa Wall tells the incredible and inspirational 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, which eventually pushed her to spend nights sleeping in her truck rather than face the tormentor in her bed.

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. In Stolen Innocence, she delves into the difficult months on the outside that led her to come forward against him, working with prosecutors on one of the biggest criminal cases in Utah's history, so that other girls still inside the church might be spared her cruel fate.

More than a tale of survival and freedom, Stolen Innocence is the story of one heroic woman who stood up for what was right and reclaimed her life. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
Elissa Wall is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) who was forced into marriage at age fourteen. She left the FLDS at age eighteen and currently resides in Utah with her two children and her husband, Lamont. (From the publisher.)

Book Reviews
Wall’s story couldn’t be more timely. Her descriptions of the polygamous sect’s rigidity are shocking, but what’s most fascinating is the immensely likeable author’s struggle to reconcile her longing for happiness with her terror of it’s consequences.
People

(Audio version.) Elissa Wall tells of her escape from the controversial polygamist sect the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and its totalitarian leader, Warren Jeffs. After much soul-searching, Wall was instrumental in getting Jeffs imprisoned for his involvement in the marriages of underage girls, including her own forced marriage at the age of 14. Narrator Renee Raudman speaks in an immature-sounding voice as one would read to a child. Her soft and sometimes whispered tones contrast with the horrific experiences being described. Assuming the role of the young girl, Raudman recounts traumatic psychological insults such as familial dismemberments and the sexual violation of children. The juxtaposition of Raudman's narrative equanimity and the young girl's shocking experiences creates an arresting audio experience.
AudioFile

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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