Breaking Free

By Rachel Jeffs

Breaking Free - Rachel Jeffs
  • Release Date: 2017-11-14
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 427 Ratings

Description

In this searing memoir of survival in the spirit of Stolen Innocence, the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the FLDS Church, takes you deep inside the secretive polygamist Mormon fundamentalist cult run by her family and how she escaped it.

Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Rachel Jeffs was raised in a strict patriarchal culture defined by subordinate sister wives and men they must obey. No one in this radical splinter sect of the Mormon Church was more powerful or terrifying than its leader Warren Jeffs—Rachel’s father.

Living outside mainstream Mormonism and federal law, Jeffs arranged marriages between under-age girls and middle-aged and elderly members of his congregation. In 2006, he gained international notoriety when the FBI placed him on its Ten Most Wanted List. Though he is serving a life sentence for child sexual assault, Jeffs’ iron grip on the church remains firm, and his edicts to his followers increasingly restrictive and bizarre.

In Breaking Free, Rachel blows the lid off this taciturn community made famous by Jon Krakauer’s bestselling Under the Banner of Heaven to offer a harrowing look at her life with Warren Jeffs, and the years of physical and emotional abuse she suffered. Sexually assaulted, compelled into an arranged polygamous marriage, locked away in "houses of hiding" as punishment for perceived transgressions, and physically separated from her children, Rachel, Jeffs’ first plural daughter by his second of more than fifty wives, eventually found the courage to leave the church in 2015. But Breaking Free is not only her story—Rachel’s experiences illuminate those of her family and the countless others who remain trapped in the strange world she left behind.

A shocking and mesmerizing memoir of faith, abuse, courage, and freedom, Breaking Free is an expose of religious extremism and a beacon of hope for anyone trying to overcome personal obstacles.

Reviews

  • Incredible memoir

    5
    By fun and relaxing. enjoyable
    Truly incredible story. Everything I thought I knew about the FLDS was expanded to a level I didn’t expect. Highly encourage you read this!
  • Great book, would recommend

    5
    By Person with OCD
    The first few chapters were hard with the details of what Rachel went through but this book is worth the read and very eye opening in showing you the truth of what happens within that community.
  • Wow

    5
    By KayP1998
    I have now read this book 3 times! Rachel Jeff’s did a fantastic job tellling her story. Yeah gigs books is a great reminder of all of the thing we have to be thankful for in life!
  • Story of triumph

    5
    By tremone12
    I cannot begin to even imagine what Rachel went through, but this story is an amazing and often heart breaking view of her struggles. It is 100% worth the read. It will make you angry as hell at the people in her story while also allowing you to laugh alongside her and her sisters. It made me cry and some parts as well, both happy and sad tears. It’s a testament to a mothers love and fighting for what is right.
  • Brave and strong

    5
    By mbaker92
    What a story. How Rachel was not consumed by her anger escapes me. I was so furious reading about how she had been separated from her family, her children, her husband. No one should have to live like that. But still she persevered and kept turning towards the light. She finally took control of her life and did what was best for her children. Rachel is my hero!
  • Fascinating story! Very good read!!

    5
    By abel1212
    Excellent!
  • Loved!

    5
    By KeiKeiJones
    I couldn’t put the book down. I went through all of her emotions along with her as I was reading. Best book I’ve read in a long time!
  • Insight

    5
    By Upset vegan wanna be
    What great insight of a very wicked man. It’s so sad for the people who stay. Very quick read.
  • Amazing Book

    5
    By HaleyChula
    Five Stars
  • Will not open

    1
    By tigertrace
    Waiting for apple to fix