Breaking Free

In this searing memoir of resilience and redemption, Rachel Jeffs—daughter of the self-proclaimed Prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints—writes about her life inside, and triumphant escape from, a dangerous cult that still holds thousands in its thrall.Rachel grew up her father’s favorite as he attained ultimate control of the FLDS Church, where women are subordinate to men, and everyone is at the mercy of their unstable Prophet. Living outside mainstream Mormonism and federal law, Warren Jeffs established a cult in which members do his bidding; underage girls are married to strange men; parents live apart from their children; and people are cast out forever on a whim. Compelled into a polygamous marriage, locked away for perceived transgressions, and separated from her children, Rachel eventually faced a terrible decision: should she stay in this hell, or leave everything she’d ever known and flee?A shocking and mesmerizing story of faith, abuse, and courage, Breaking Free is both an exposé of religious extremism and a portrait of extraordinary human spirit.