Rebecca Musser

Rebecca Musser grew up as the daughter of a second wife in a polygamous marriage. Isolated in Salt Lake City, where they lived in a basement, rearranging sleeping arrangements whenever another baby is born, she grew up in quasi-hiding, never allowed to run around much outside for fear of the neighbors. The first wife was abusive toward Rebecca and her siblings and some of her own children joined in. Rebecca only felt free at the school run by Rulon Jeffs, the prophet of the FLDS, the prophet show more and leader of the polygamous mormon sect she belonged to, and in Short Creek, an area isolated between Arizona and Utah where polygamous groups live openly.

While she is naturally curious and questioning, she is also integrated into the sect and works hard to both "keep sweet" and avoid all contact with boys in general and Warren Jeffs, Rulon's son, in particular. When she turns eighteen, she is called into Rulon Jeffs' study to be told that it's time she marries. While she asks for more time, this is denied and she is quickly married to Rulon Jeffs, the prophet himself, as his nineteenth wife. Jeffs is elderly and while she has been taught to revere him, she does not enjoy her nights with him. He quickly marries many more women, but when he has a stroke, his son takes over the group. Quickly marrying off more and more girls to a small group of men, the younger men are declared apostates and sent away and the girls being married off become younger and younger. After being told she was to be remarried to Warren Jeffs, Musser runs away and struggles to build a life without an education or any usable life skills.

After Warren Jeffs is arrested, along with many of the men in his inner circle, Musser testifies against them, as well as helping law enforcement to understand the customs and beliefs of the FLDS.

Musser is an interesting person, leaving the sect and yet still being sympathetic to their beliefs and way of life. She was careful in how she portrayed the members of the FLDS which, I think, made her into a somewhat opaque character in her own memoir. Since most of her family are still part of that world, I can see how she didn't want to burn any bridges, although the reactions of her family members to her testimony indicates that she may never be welcomed by any of them. Musser is a determined individual, and she had to be, to have the courage to run away, but it's also clear that she is lonely and doesn't entirely feel comfortable in the world outside of FLDS.

I'm not sure I learned anything new from this book, having previously read David Ebershoff's The Nineteenth Wife, Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven and having watched Big Love. Despite Musser's reticence, I felt a little voyeuristic while reading the parts of the book set in the world of the FLDS. It's so alien, and they clearly do not want outsiders to know what goes on. On the other hand, it's also clear that this is not a healthy way to live, with women reduced to a number and required to "keep sweet" and never indicate any opinion of their own and men focussed unduly on sexual matters. The lack of education for the children and the dishonest and sometimes criminal activities engaged in by the sect are also worrisome. show less

Fascinating, and often disgusting and heart-wrenching, look into the FLDS life and in particular for the women of the FLDS. Narrator for the audiobook was EXCELLENT and kept me wrapped up in amazement the entire time. Overall this book was fabulous, along with "Stolen Innocence" and ... oh darn, there's another one... I'll have to find that again.
A closer critique: Many times thru the book I felt like the author was either covering her ass, or making up stories about how naive she was - I show more felt there was just no way that any person could be so innocent and "sweet"! - but towards the end of the book I was convinced that the author really did behave as sweetly as she described. It's unusual, and unique, but between brainwashing and incest, I suppose it's possible.

Some minor items...
I was really bummed that the author didn't add a few more epilogue stories. She did provide outcomes in general, and a few specific cases (her mother and some sisters were still in FLDS) but she referenced some people in generic terms who deserved a little more. For instance, what happened with Cole? Did I miss something ... did he get better and survive his sickness? and her dad... the author mentions he was interviewed for the book but doesn't say whether he was still full force FLDS or had broken away a little. There were several people she'd covered thoroughly during the book and yet dropped at the end. But, honestly, it's a minor quibble.

Another item I found a little more disturbing: after reading Stolen Innocence, I'm really unclear as to which woman did what part of the lawsuits and legal challenges. After this book, I'd swear Rebecca did all the legal stuff but I recall thinking similarly after Stolen Innocence. I wish she had integrated a bit of Elissa's actions with her own so that the legal proceedings were clearer. Again, minor quibble since that wasn't the main point of the book. show less

Growing up in the insular Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), Rebecca Musser was taught early that her family was not like others and she would have to keep their family situation secret. She lived with her mother and siblings in the basement of a house, and her other mother lived upstairs with Rebecca’s half-siblings. Her father lived on both levels of the house on alternate days. This all seemed normal to Rebecca because this is all she ever knew and how show more everyone else in her community lived.

When she was 19, under her father’s urging, she was married to Rulon Jeffs, the 85 year old prophet of the FLDS church. Within their community it is a great honor to wed the prophet, but Rebecca was not pleased. There is not much room for women’s voices in the FLDS church, and her objections were ignored. She tried to keep very busy to avoid home and her husband. Rulon continued to marry, and by the time he died at age 92, he had 64 wives that got progressively younger.

After Rulon’s death, his son Warren (also the school principal) took the reins of the church. Under his direction, the FLDS became even more insulated and women were under further restrictions and were heavily indoctrinated to obey men. Girls of younger and younger ages began to be married to men who Warren owed favors to or who Warren wanted on his side. Rebecca found the changes disturbing, and when Warren gave her a deadline on a new marriage she decided to make a run for it.

After she left, she still received information about what was happening in the church. After her sister, Elissa, told her of being raped and abused by her husband (also her first cousin), Rebecca encouraged her to come forward and press charges against him and Warren. Once charged with crimes, including sexual assault on a minor and with conspiracy to commit sexual misconduct with a minor for allegedly arranging the marriage, Warren ran from the law and was placed on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.

After his apprehension, Rebecca was determined to see him and other church leaders convicted. By the end, she testified 20 times in various trials against Warren. He was charged with many crimes in Utah, Arizona, and Texas. He is currently in a Texas prison where he is serving life in prison plus 20 years. He still rules the church from his jail cell, giving edicts and proscriptions to his devoted followers. Rebecca began a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing dignity, hope and healing to victims of human trafficking. show less

I found this a very interesting and compelling read. The authors don't pull any punches but write about what she (Mrs. Musser) experienced mostly from the viewpoint of when it happened. She mentions the atmosphere and lack of outside influence in the manipulation of the majority of the members of FLDS. What she does not say is that it qualifies as a cult in mentality. I found that interesting but in after pondering it I agree, do define this as a cult* when trying to express her experiences show more would have placed it in the status of "lesser" and that would have lessened the impact of what she was conveying. Her story and the way she feels about members she knows and is related to is presented in an even-handed manner. In the latter portion of the book she briefly addresses her experience in losing faith and regaining it back in a different perspective (which doesn't follow Mormonism from my guess but she never specifies), it is not overdone and very much in context.

I feel for many of the people left in this environment. Hopefully one day some of them will have the opportunity to see it from the other side. In the meantime would someone PLEASE remove all outside access to the leaders of this group. It will only help in the long run. show less