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12th out of 33 books
—
66 voters
Triumph
Life After the Cult -- A Survivor's Lessons
Kindle Edition
Published
(first published May 4th 2010)
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3 1/2 stars
The first half of the book is a really interesting account of the Yearning For Zion raid fiasco in Texas. Jessop has a unique perspective as a former FLDS woman who was married to one of the most powerful men in the cult. She was asked for assistance with the YFZ situation, especially with regard to working with the children who had been removed from the compound.
The second half of the book rehashes quite a bit of what was in Escape, Jessop's first book. She does add new perspectives...more
The first half of the book is a really interesting account of the Yearning For Zion raid fiasco in Texas. Jessop has a unique perspective as a former FLDS woman who was married to one of the most powerful men in the cult. She was asked for assistance with the YFZ situation, especially with regard to working with the children who had been removed from the compound.
The second half of the book rehashes quite a bit of what was in Escape, Jessop's first book. She does add new perspectives...more
Carolyn's follow-up book to her first book "ESCAPE". She was born into the FLDS (Fundamentalists of Latter Day Saints) Mormon polygamous cult. For 35 years she lived this way, until 2003 when she finally escaped with her 8 children. People don't leave the cult, they are forced out but hardly ever leave because of their brainwashing and the way they live almost makes it impossible for them to get away unnoticed. Young girls are married off (usually purchased)to much older men in the cult beginnin...more
During my morning devotions, besides daily Scriptures, I try to read and/or listen to inspirational words by others. This was an audio book I selected for one week and enjoyed it even while not totally agreeing with her politics and her stand on home schooling. In her case, I fully understand where Ms Jessop is coming from. Had my life been anywhere near what hers was, I’m sure my views would be different today.
TRIUMPH is an eye-opener! Well-done! Ms Jessop continues a look at the FLDS and life...more
TRIUMPH is an eye-opener! Well-done! Ms Jessop continues a look at the FLDS and life...more
Feb 11, 2012
Stringy
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people with an interest in FLDS specifically or cults generally
I haven't read Jessop's first book, Escape (how she got away from the FLDS cult), but I look forward to it. I like her writing style, which is simple and straightforward rather than overwrought. Jessop tells it like it is, clearly marks the difference between the facts and her own thoughts and opinions, and leaves the reader to make up their own mind.
The first section is about her peripheral involvement in the YFZ Ranch raids, where many children and mothers were taken from the compound but very...more
The first section is about her peripheral involvement in the YFZ Ranch raids, where many children and mothers were taken from the compound but very...more
I picked up the book reading Escape. While Escape is a memoir of Carolyn, Triumph is her story after escaping from FLDS sect. The book overlaps with Escape with respect to giving evidences of abuses which happen in FLDS. Triumph is divided into two parts, life after escaping+raid on YFZ ranch and her background and source of strength. With respect to the first part, a lot of it was fresh in my memory since I had just finished reading Escape. However, the interesting aspect is the description of...more
In this follow up to “Escape”, Jessop effectively answers the question, “If life is so bad for women in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) why don’t they leave?”
In 2008, based on a call from a young woman claiming abuse, Texas authorities raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch and ended up placing over 400 children in foster homes while investigating the alleged abuse. Overwhelmed by the number of children and utterly confused by the reaction of the mothers and chi...more
In 2008, based on a call from a young woman claiming abuse, Texas authorities raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch and ended up placing over 400 children in foster homes while investigating the alleged abuse. Overwhelmed by the number of children and utterly confused by the reaction of the mothers and chi...more
I am fascinated by Warren Jeffs' polygamist cult FLDS, and I am in awe of Carolyn Jessop and her strength. I was thrilled to see she'd written a follow-up to "Escape" because when the YFZ Ranch was raided, I kept wondering what an insider like Carolyn thought. This book answered my questions. The first half of the book discusses the mess of the raid and the second half of the book goes into more depth about how Carolyn found the resources to slowly draw herself out of the cult that she was raise...more
Low stars for not being very well written, and of course my tirade which will follow . . .
The first half of this book aggravated me so badly I wanted to throw it across the room. I was hoping this book would enlighten me on the YFZ ranch situation - instead it made me more entrenched in what I believed in the first place. Polygamy? Bad. Abuse? Bad. Taking children away from mothers? What? She even states herself that those mothers loved their children as much or more than any mother. Yet, she ta...more
The first half of this book aggravated me so badly I wanted to throw it across the room. I was hoping this book would enlighten me on the YFZ ranch situation - instead it made me more entrenched in what I believed in the first place. Polygamy? Bad. Abuse? Bad. Taking children away from mothers? What? She even states herself that those mothers loved their children as much or more than any mother. Yet, she ta...more
This book was an amazing testament to the human spirit and the resilinacy of children. I love when she says, during her day in court "I was no longer a bird confined to a cage to be tortured. I had found my wings and was determined to soar" pg. 74. She also had a great-and genuine attitude toward forgiveness, "forgiveness had nothing to do with trusting a person who'd injured you. It involved letting go of the anger you felt and making space for emotional growth." And the way she phrases her abi...more
I've been on a kick of reading books about people leaving polygamy. I find it fascinating. They all come from splinter groups from the mainstream LDS church, and I find it enthralling to learn about the differences in doctrine, or how doctrine gets interpreted. It terrifies me a little to see the extremism, but I appreciate coming to a better understanding of the differences. When Jessop's Escape came out a few years ago, I read it fast and furious. Her follow-up had the same effect. However, si...more
Triumph was a huge disappointment compared to Jessops first book, escape. I decided to read it because it was written after the big raid on the Yearning For Zion ranch in Texas which ended with over 400 abused children being returned to their parents. I was hoping there would be information on what happened after that, if the law totally abandoned those children, if things had gone back to business as usual at the YFZ.
The first half of Triumph told that story, but only as it applied to Carolyn J...more
The first half of Triumph told that story, but only as it applied to Carolyn J...more
I was looking forward to this book after devouring Escape, but it was a little bit of a letdown. It seems to me that she wanted to make a statement about what she thought about the raid in Texas, but that wasn't enough to fill a book. So she talks about it for the first half of the book, and the second half is a LOT of rehashing from the first book. There were several chapters I thought "Wow, deja vu…" it seemed word-for-word to be stories from Escape. There were some new details sprinkled throu...more
I was worried this wouldn't do for me what Escape did. By that I mean get me interested and feeling more passionately than I already do about this subject. But I worried for nothing.
Carolyn really seems like a genuinely good person. She seems like someone I'd love to sit down for a cup of coffee with and talk about anything, not just this subject she's so close to.
When I look at her picture on the cover of this book I'm astounded. She looks so young. But that's because she is so young. Not that...more
Carolyn really seems like a genuinely good person. She seems like someone I'd love to sit down for a cup of coffee with and talk about anything, not just this subject she's so close to.
When I look at her picture on the cover of this book I'm astounded. She looks so young. But that's because she is so young. Not that...more
Unfortunately Carolyn writes too many of her opinions in this book. I really enjoyed reading her first book Escape. I felt like her ideas on home schooling, parenting, and religion were too biased and became a tirade for her anger. I would never home school my children and may not agree with homeschooling however, I would not lash out at anyone for doing it. It became very obvious she used this as therapy and maybe should have kept most of this to herself. Many of the things she writes were from...more
I was glad to see this book and to have answers to the many questions "Escape" left me with. That was good. But this second volume ended just as abruptly. It surprises me that her editors would be satisfied with the ending, no matter how good the rest of the book might be.
The first part of the book dealt with the raid conducted by the state of Texas on the FLDS compound near Eldorado, TX. I remember seeing much of what she described on national TV. I was still living in Florida then, and that st...more
The first part of the book dealt with the raid conducted by the state of Texas on the FLDS compound near Eldorado, TX. I remember seeing much of what she described on national TV. I was still living in Florida then, and that st...more
The first half of this book focuses on the details of the Texas raid on the FLDS's YFZ ranch. Although Jessop's experience as a former member of the FLDS and her loose involvement with the events described provide some interesting insights, this part of the book is nothing extraordinary. The second half, however, is Jessop's analysis of the traits that she needed to develop in order to successfully escape from the cult. Even having read "Escape," I found the narrative portions of this section fr...more
In "Escape" Jessop described her life in the FLDS cult. Now in "Triumph" she describes her involvement with the authorities during the FLDS YFZ Compound raid in Texas. Jessop also goes into a little more detail regarding her own struggles after leaving the FLDS and how her children have adjusted to life outside the cult.
I got the feeling that Jessop had the opportunity to write another book but just didn't really have enough material to repeat the success of Escape. This book wandered and drifte...more
I got the feeling that Jessop had the opportunity to write another book but just didn't really have enough material to repeat the success of Escape. This book wandered and drifte...more
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The follow-up to Escape, Carolyn Jessop guides her readers through the YFZ Ranch raid in which children were swept from their mothers. I learned much more about the FLDS culture including that many of the children were separated from their families such that when DNA tests were conducted, nearly none of the children taken were considered related to the adults involved. I also learned how roughly the children treated the CPS workers, especially women, and especially women of color.
The second half...more
The second half...more
This book started out great and I was fully expecting a sequel to "escape". About halfway through the book she started writing her opinions on public school vs homeschooling. I have not home schooled my children, nor was I home schooled. I completely understand where she is coming from. The previous book presented enough information for the reader to make up their own mind on if they are for or against home schooling. I kept turning pages towards the middle and it honestly felt like she was push...more
Triumph is part explanation of the Texas raid on the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch, part continuation of Jessop's Escape, and part analysis of how/why she was able to leave FLDS while many are unable to do so. Triumph rehashes some of what was covered in Escape, which is probably why it receives many 3-star vs. 4-star ratings. If you read the books together, Triumph suffers from redundancy. That said, this book can stand alone because of the rehashing. I really enjoyed the parts of YFZ and the m...more
I picked this up mistakenly thinking I'd read Carolyn Jessop's first autobiography, about how she escaped from the FLDS with her eight children. Well, I was wrong (I must've read someone ELSE'S harrowing autobiography about leaving the FLDS). Carolyn sums up her history in a nice-enough package, thereby making Triumph easy to follow even if you haven't devoured her first book, but the first book sounded WAY more interesting than this one.
Ostensibly, Triumph is about how Carolyn helped federal a...more
Ostensibly, Triumph is about how Carolyn helped federal a...more
Another must-read. This woman is no less amazing in this second book. Again her writing style is light and funny despite the subject which is neither light nor funny. I am sad that she points out and somehow blames "mainstream Mormons' deafening silence about polygamous cults." We think they are on the path to destruction, but that they chose that path themselves. We don't identify with them like they obviously do with us, and I would wager to bet that few, if any Mormons had any idea what was g...more
Sequel to her first, and more riveting memoir, "Escape". This gave a good account of the ranch raids and her opinions and testimonies but the best part was her thoughts on how she survived and escaped the FLDS cult. She held onto her "Bedrock Beliefs" which were:
- Claim the power of No.
- Set your own standards.
- Hold onto whatever power you do have.
- Forget about perfection and do the best you can.
- Do whatever it takes to protect (and defend) those you love.
Advice anyone can certainly follow!
An...more
- Claim the power of No.
- Set your own standards.
- Hold onto whatever power you do have.
- Forget about perfection and do the best you can.
- Do whatever it takes to protect (and defend) those you love.
Advice anyone can certainly follow!
An...more
More from the courageous Carolyn Jessop. With better writing than her first book Escape it was a quick read. Part one focuses on the raid at the Texas compound of the FLDS, and the harrowing & frustrating weeks and months that followed. Part two focuses on Carolyn who details her incremental internal changes that led her to shift her thinking and escape from the oppressive & abusive cult she was born into. She ultimately triumphs personally over the hold of brainwashing & mind contro...more
This was a pretty good book and interesting look at more of the life of Carolyn Jessop and how she has coped with her life after fleeing the FLDS cult. The first half of the book was probably my favorite part as it closely looked at the trials that took place in Texas in 2008 against the FLDS YFZ ranch and how several children were removed. Interesting to see some of the lies that FLDS religion goes to in order to keep their people out of the culture. I didn't as much enjoy the second half of th...more
Continuing her expose of the FDLS and Warren Jeffs, which began with her memoir "Escape," Carolyn Jessop now focuses on what has happened to her since escaping from the polygamous cult and gaining custody of her children. The first part of the book covers her responses to the raid on FDLS ranch in Texas in 2005 as well as the response to her book. Some of it read as very "he said she said." The second half was better, and focused more on the milestones in her life that caused her to gain the str...more
Still a captivating book in how she raises up in the middle of everything, specially when figures of her past come out to public trial. However, the only one point I totally disagree is her point of view toward homeschooling. I understand where she came from... but that method of teaching applied in the FLDS community wasn't homeschooling, that was pure indoctrination of a cult that attempts to mislead the truth. In the first book, Escape, she even mentioned how the wrong information was being t...more
Although parts of this book made me consider only a "2" rating, it was interesting to hear some updates on her first book, Escape. I was also intrigued by the connection of her escape to Dr. Laura as well as the impact on her life by a brief encounter with an African American man: "...this moment altered the very foundations of my world. When this man stood up for me, I felt like a human being who was worthy of dignity and respect for the first time in my marriage and my life. His simple actions...more
It's a follow-up to Escape, which described the author's life in the FLDS and her flight to freedom. The book includes a few topics - her perspective on the raid on the YFZ ranch, her assistance to law enforcement/child protective services during the raid, a quick recap of the events of Escape , values/lessons learned that are important to her and which helped her escape the cult and survive on the outside etc. It's an interesting read but it kind of skips around a lot and doesn't really come...more
In the second book by Carolyn Jessop, the focus is divided between the raid on the YDF compound in Texas and its aftermath as well as Carolyn's journey with overcoming the brain-washing that she endured at the hands of the FLDS.
This book should be read in follow up to her first book 'Escape' as that explains a lot about the FLDS lifestyle and how she got out!
Carolyn has overcome quite a lot to become a spokesperson against the FLDS. I admire her courage in never backing down, even though her o...more
This book should be read in follow up to her first book 'Escape' as that explains a lot about the FLDS lifestyle and how she got out!
Carolyn has overcome quite a lot to become a spokesperson against the FLDS. I admire her courage in never backing down, even though her o...more
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Carolyn Jessop is a former Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints member who wrote Escape, an autobiographical account of her upbringing in the polygamist sect and later flight from that community.
She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children.
Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
As...more
More about Carolyn Jessop...
She is the cousin, by marriage, of Flora Jessop, another former FLDS member and advocate for abused children.
Carolyn Jessop now lives in the Salt Lake City area with her children.
As...more
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“Sometimes one forgives in order to remain in a relationship with someone she cares about, even if the person has caused her pain and anguish. It's not a blanket pardon; it's the trade-off one is willing to make when preserving the relationship is more important than correcting the injustice.”
—
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Jul 06, 2012 10:16am