Title: The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice
Author: Rebecca MusserPublisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Genre: Non-Fiction
Length: 14hrs and 10min
Source: Purchased (Audible)
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Find it Here: Amazon // Goodreads
Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs. Always seeking to be an obedient Priesthood girl, in her teens she became the nineteenth wife of her people's prophet: 85-year-old Rulon Jeffs, Warren's father. Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her, she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family.
The church, however, had a way of pulling her back in-and by 2007, Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages. The following year, Rebecca and the rest of the world watched as a team of Texas Rangers raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch, a stronghold of the FLDS. Rebecca's subsequent testimony would reveal the horrific secrets taking place behind closed doors of the temple, sending their leaders to prison for years, and Warren Jeffs for life.
THE WITNESS WORE RED is a gripping account of one woman's struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery, and a courageous story of hope and transformation.
Review:
I've always been fascinated with religious cults especially the FLDS Mormons and their polygamous ways. After reading The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner I knew that I would pretty much want to read anything that had to do with women escaping this harmful and dangerous cult.
I listened to The Witness Wore Red on audio book and I actually think that was a disservice to the book. It's read by it's author, Rebecca Musser, and she's not exactly a trained voice actor. While I know that all audio book narrators read the book off the page, most of the time it doesn't sound like they're just reading it off the page because they're pretty good a voice acting. Rebecca Musser sounded like she was just reading the book off the page and it made the narration sound forced.
As far as the validity of this book, I have no doubt that all of the horrors and atrocities actually took place just like Rebecca Musser says they did. But as far as remembering all the details from many years ago and which dresses each of her sister wives wore and the exact words from all the conversations she had with Warren Jeffs and the other various leader of the FLDS church, there was probably a lot of filling in the blanks. I can't remember what I had for lunch last week much less a word for word conversation that I had with my mom over ten years ago.
Rebecca Musser is so brave and courageous for being able to just escape the church and lie low much less to go public to testify against Warren Jeffs and then write about book about her experiences in the church. There are a lot of personal details and her personal experiences of being married to a man who was more than fifty years older than her. She truly is an inspiration to those who are in a bad place and want to change their life.
If you interested in more information on the FLDS Mormon Church I highly recommend both The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser and The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner. Both are great and encouraging stories of women who would not all themselves to be oppressed or held back any longer!
I've always been fascinated with religious cults especially the FLDS Mormons and their polygamous ways. After reading The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner I knew that I would pretty much want to read anything that had to do with women escaping this harmful and dangerous cult.
I listened to The Witness Wore Red on audio book and I actually think that was a disservice to the book. It's read by it's author, Rebecca Musser, and she's not exactly a trained voice actor. While I know that all audio book narrators read the book off the page, most of the time it doesn't sound like they're just reading it off the page because they're pretty good a voice acting. Rebecca Musser sounded like she was just reading the book off the page and it made the narration sound forced.
As far as the validity of this book, I have no doubt that all of the horrors and atrocities actually took place just like Rebecca Musser says they did. But as far as remembering all the details from many years ago and which dresses each of her sister wives wore and the exact words from all the conversations she had with Warren Jeffs and the other various leader of the FLDS church, there was probably a lot of filling in the blanks. I can't remember what I had for lunch last week much less a word for word conversation that I had with my mom over ten years ago.
Rebecca Musser is so brave and courageous for being able to just escape the church and lie low much less to go public to testify against Warren Jeffs and then write about book about her experiences in the church. There are a lot of personal details and her personal experiences of being married to a man who was more than fifty years older than her. She truly is an inspiration to those who are in a bad place and want to change their life.
If you interested in more information on the FLDS Mormon Church I highly recommend both The Witness Wore Red by Rebecca Musser and The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner. Both are great and encouraging stories of women who would not all themselves to be oppressed or held back any longer!
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