The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser with M. Bridget Cook

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The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice by Rebecca Musser with M. Bridget Cook     


                Rebecca Wall has been a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) her entire life. Her mother was a second wife and had 14 children. Her father had three wives and 24 children in all. Rebecca never doubted the sanctity of plural marriage. She questioned those outside of the FLDS and the evil lurking in wait to harm her and her family. The Prophet, Rulon Jeffs, was a tool of God and she would eventually be his bride. But as she got older and became a wife she was privy to more and more disturbing details. Were marriages really ordained by God or negotiations of the men in power? Was abuse something women and children should take without question? Eventually the questions and fear of Warren Jeffs, the son of Rulon, who took power after his death were enough to convince Rebecca it was time to escape.
                I heard about Rebecca Musser after watching the documentary “Prophet’s Prey.” It focuses on Warren Jeffs and the corruption running rampant within his FLDS sect. It was interesting and terrifying to say the least. I wanted to read Musser’s story because I knew it would have intimate details of a life I could never imagine taking part in. This memoir is story of a woman who since birth was wrapped up in this ideology. Her youth was filled with abuses at the hand of her father’s first wife. She was constantly told that anyone not of the FLDS would only harm her and were with Satan. Yet as she gets older she discovers all of this corruption. As she becomes aware of everything around her, she realizes just how lost the people around her and the people she loves really are and decided to leave fearing for her own safety. This is a story of courage. It is personal and endearing and describes a religion that is controlled by men through brainwashing and fear.

                I’m recommending this memoir because people need to be aware of just how manipulative other human beings can be and how many will use a religion for their own personal gains. This was not the best written memoir but it does its job. It gets Musser’s story out there. Very interesting look at polygamy and the FLDS from someone who experienced it firsthand. I give this 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

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