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311 reviews for:
The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
M. Bridget Cook, Rebecca Musser
4.01 AVERAGE
311 reviews for:
The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
M. Bridget Cook, Rebecca Musser
4.01 AVERAGE
Rebecca Wall has been a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) her entire life. Her mother was a second wife and had 14 children. Her father had three wives and 24 children in all. Rebecca never doubted the sanctity of plural marriage. She questioned those outside of the FLDS and the evil lurking in wait to harm her and her family. The Prophet, Rulon Jeffs, was a tool of God and she would eventually be his bride. But as she got older and became a wife she was privy to more and more disturbing details. Were marriages really ordained by God or negotiations of the men in power? Was abuse something women and children should take without question? Eventually the questions and fear of Warren Jeffs, the son of Rulon, who took power after his death were enough to convince Rebecca it was time to escape.
I heard about Rebecca Musser after watching the documentary “Prophet’s Prey.” It focuses on Warren Jeffs and the corruption running rampant within his FLDS sect. It was interesting and terrifying to say the least. I wanted to read Musser’s story because I knew it would have intimate details of a life I could never imagine taking part in. This memoir is story of a woman who since birth was wrapped up in this ideology. Her youth was filled with abuses at the hand of her father’s first wife. She was constantly told that anyone not of the FLDS would only harm her and were with Satan. Yet as she gets older she discovers all of this corruption. As she becomes aware of everything around her, she realizes just how lost the people around her and the people she loves really are and decided to leave fearing for her own safety. This is a story of courage. It is personal and endearing and describes a religion that is controlled by men through brainwashing and fear.
I’m recommending this memoir because people need to be aware of just how manipulative other human beings can be and how many will use a religion for their own personal gains. This was not the best written memoir but it does its job. It gets Musser’s story out there. Very interesting look at polygamy and the FLDS from someone who experienced it firsthand. I give this 3.5 out of 5 stars.
3.5
I feel bad for rating this so low because it is a personal account on such atrocious things. However some things just rubbed me the wrong way (in the writing or story telling or something). I still think that polygamy in this way (with child brides) is extremely important to shine a light on so, I thank this book for that.
I feel bad for rating this so low because it is a personal account on such atrocious things. However some things just rubbed me the wrong way (in the writing or story telling or something). I still think that polygamy in this way (with child brides) is extremely important to shine a light on so, I thank this book for that.
Really interesting and gripping, emotion-filled memoir of a woman’s upbringing and escape from a religious cult. She was the 19th wife of the self-proclaimed prophet, then his son’s wife, and so was familiar with a lot of information from the inside. Difficult but engaging (information-dumpy at the end, when she took the sect to trial), this book is what I was looking for.
Fascinating first person story about the woman who brought down the FDLS - the hardcore conservative Morman sect. Really a brave and compelling story about the impact of brainwashing and the ability of a single strong personality to influence so many people.
The story is heartbreaking and interesting, but the writing itself was so juvenile and young-seeming that I had trouble with the book sometimes. Really fascinating if writing style doesn't bother you, though.
I still think that the LeBaron family is more interesting than the Jeffs. It is hard to believe how much abuse was in the FDLS church and that they were so brain washed that they believed that it was okay for a 12 year old to marry a 50 or 60 year old man. yuck!
Anytime somebody courageously tells their story, they are to be applauded, especially when you stand up against an institution with as much grounding, power, influence and history as the FLDS. The FLDS is a cult, pure and simple, and it engages in systemic sexual, mental, & physical abuse of its members, some of whom are indoctrinated so heavily that they are not only unaware of their own abuse, but are facilitators and dispensers of it. Rebecca Musser's powerful memoir is interesting in this way, because we get an overview of her childhood, move quickly into marriage with Rulon Jeffs (which, of course, happened while she was still a child) and then there's this quick acceleration into adulthood - which is probably what growing up FLDS feels like.
Her split from the church and eventual condemnation of it and testifying against it are less of a rejection of the faith and the capital "W" Work than they are part and parcel of an independent, strong and feminist awakening for her, and because of that, there are some spots where the reader will not always be sympathetic with Musser, but on the whole, this is a solid and necessary book for understanding not only the specific breed of evil control being used here, but also the phenomenon in general.
Her split from the church and eventual condemnation of it and testifying against it are less of a rejection of the faith and the capital "W" Work than they are part and parcel of an independent, strong and feminist awakening for her, and because of that, there are some spots where the reader will not always be sympathetic with Musser, but on the whole, this is a solid and necessary book for understanding not only the specific breed of evil control being used here, but also the phenomenon in general.
This book challenges the perception of religious respect, universal humane rights, and the worth of the consent of those indoctrinated by religious truisms. Rebecca Musser and Bridget Cook set up to write a biography and ended up writing a chapter of cultural introspection, walking the fine line of respect for people with a different set of beliefs from our own, while being critical of perceived violations of human rights whose victims have sunk into deep denial.
This was a captivating read. I couldn't put the book down, and I think that was largely because I felt a strong connection to the author. If I had been born into her situation, I could see myself doing the same things.
The book is about author Rebecca Musser's life as a member of the extreme Mormon group the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). She grew up in a polygamist household, in a community largely cut off from the rest of the world. There seemed to be happy times in her youth but mostly a lot of restrictions and abuse. At age 19, she was forced into an arranged marriage to the FLDS "Prophet," a man in his 80s. As a wife of the Prophet, she learned about the true nature of the FLDS leaders. After continued restrictions, abuse and rape in her adulthood, she eventually escapes the FLDS community. From the outside, she slowly learns of greater atrocities being committed by the new FLDS leaders - including child brides - and she helps law enforcement convict some of the leading criminals from the Church.
Although there are many horrors in this book, the author's close ties to family, her perseverance, and her commitment to doing good make it an uplifting story.
The only complaints I have about the book are that so many of the FLDS people are related that they all have similar names, so I had difficulty remember who was who. Also, stories seemed to jump around a bit, adding to the confusion sometimes.
The book is about author Rebecca Musser's life as a member of the extreme Mormon group the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS). She grew up in a polygamist household, in a community largely cut off from the rest of the world. There seemed to be happy times in her youth but mostly a lot of restrictions and abuse. At age 19, she was forced into an arranged marriage to the FLDS "Prophet," a man in his 80s. As a wife of the Prophet, she learned about the true nature of the FLDS leaders. After continued restrictions, abuse and rape in her adulthood, she eventually escapes the FLDS community. From the outside, she slowly learns of greater atrocities being committed by the new FLDS leaders - including child brides - and she helps law enforcement convict some of the leading criminals from the Church.
Although there are many horrors in this book, the author's close ties to family, her perseverance, and her commitment to doing good make it an uplifting story.
The only complaints I have about the book are that so many of the FLDS people are related that they all have similar names, so I had difficulty remember who was who. Also, stories seemed to jump around a bit, adding to the confusion sometimes.
Nobody was all bad, and nobody was all good. We were human.
My first real exposure to polygamy -- to put it more narrowly, polygyny -- was through TLC's show Sister Wives. Of course, I'd heard of the practice before since I was about 16-17 when I first watched it. Mostly, I'd heard it related to child brides and people being forced into it. That side of things, I didn't agree with, so with that as my only source for a construct about polygamy, of course I didn't like the practice.
Then, I watched Sister Wives.
I saw how they treated each other, how they honestly all wanted to be involved. How they said that they would never force their children into the practice, although they did want them to keep with that side of the religion. They all worked as a family unit, as it should be. That's when my mind ultimately changed. I can honestly say that I'm all for polygamy, whether that be polygyny or polyandry. Polyamorous relationships are something I'm all for as well. So long as all parties are consenting, then who cares? No one is being harmed. (Hence why I also feel that bigamy is a stupid law to uphold since, really, no one's being hurt by it so long as all parties want to be in that relationship and can leave with their children if they so want to.)
FLDS makes me sick. They represent everything that most polygamists aren't.
Women were forced to marry men they didn't want to. They had to have sex with them, whether they wanted to or not. And that was all before Warren Jeffs. After his father Rulon -- the author's husband, and she was his 19th wife -- had a stroke and then later passed away, it all changed with Warren Jeffs, who is the one who instituted child brides and all those things. In fact, Rulon even had some scruples about that when he was in his more conscious moments after the stroke.
All I can say is that Ms Musser is a brave, brave woman, and she has my utmost respect. I can't imagine testifying against my family, even those who were just related to by marriage. I honestly can't. Yet, she did it all for those poor girls who couldn't speak for themselves and were brainwashed by Warren Jeffs and his followers into believing what they were doing was right, i.e. raping and molesting children and forcing them to marry even when they were only 12. (I found it utterly fascinating, though, that 12 year olds marrying was started because they thought the Virgin Mary was 12 when she had Jesus. Had no clue about that since I've never really read the Bible.)
Ms Musser certainly didn't have an easy life. Her father's first wife was physically and mentally abusive, one of her half-brothers attempted to rape her, her husband raped her. The list could go on, but I'm not going to. It takes bravery to testify against people she honestly loved, and even more bravery to write a book about her life.
The book was very well written, and it had amazing insights into FLDS and just life in general. By the end of the book, I was almost in tears. I highly recommend this book to people who want to read an honest story about FLDS, and about a woman's triumph in life.
My first real exposure to polygamy -- to put it more narrowly, polygyny -- was through TLC's show Sister Wives. Of course, I'd heard of the practice before since I was about 16-17 when I first watched it. Mostly, I'd heard it related to child brides and people being forced into it. That side of things, I didn't agree with, so with that as my only source for a construct about polygamy, of course I didn't like the practice.
Then, I watched Sister Wives.
I saw how they treated each other, how they honestly all wanted to be involved. How they said that they would never force their children into the practice, although they did want them to keep with that side of the religion. They all worked as a family unit, as it should be. That's when my mind ultimately changed. I can honestly say that I'm all for polygamy, whether that be polygyny or polyandry. Polyamorous relationships are something I'm all for as well. So long as all parties are consenting, then who cares? No one is being harmed. (Hence why I also feel that bigamy is a stupid law to uphold since, really, no one's being hurt by it so long as all parties want to be in that relationship and can leave with their children if they so want to.)
FLDS makes me sick. They represent everything that most polygamists aren't.
Women were forced to marry men they didn't want to. They had to have sex with them, whether they wanted to or not. And that was all before Warren Jeffs. After his father Rulon -- the author's husband, and she was his 19th wife -- had a stroke and then later passed away, it all changed with Warren Jeffs, who is the one who instituted child brides and all those things. In fact, Rulon even had some scruples about that when he was in his more conscious moments after the stroke.
All I can say is that Ms Musser is a brave, brave woman, and she has my utmost respect. I can't imagine testifying against my family, even those who were just related to by marriage. I honestly can't. Yet, she did it all for those poor girls who couldn't speak for themselves and were brainwashed by Warren Jeffs and his followers into believing what they were doing was right, i.e. raping and molesting children and forcing them to marry even when they were only 12. (I found it utterly fascinating, though, that 12 year olds marrying was started because they thought the Virgin Mary was 12 when she had Jesus. Had no clue about that since I've never really read the Bible.)
Ms Musser certainly didn't have an easy life. Her father's first wife was physically and mentally abusive, one of her half-brothers attempted to rape her, her husband raped her. The list could go on, but I'm not going to. It takes bravery to testify against people she honestly loved, and even more bravery to write a book about her life.
The book was very well written, and it had amazing insights into FLDS and just life in general. By the end of the book, I was almost in tears. I highly recommend this book to people who want to read an honest story about FLDS, and about a woman's triumph in life.