lost boy

In the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints (FLDS), girls can become valuable property asplural wives, but boys are expendable, even a liability. In thispowerful and heartbreaking account, former FLDS member Brent Jeffsreveals?0?2both the terror and the love he experienced growing upon his prophet’s compound—and the harsh exile existence that somany boys?0?2face once they have been expelled by the sect.

Brent Jeffs is the nephew of Warren Jeffs, the imprisoned leaderof the FLDS. The son of a prominent family in the church, Brentcould have grown up to have multiple wives of his own andsignificant power in the 10,000-strong community. But he knew thatbehind the group’s pious public image—women in chaste dressescarrying babies on their hips—lay a much darker reality. So hewalked away, and was the first to file a sexual-abuse lawsuitagainst his uncle. Now Brent shares his courageous story and thatof many other young men who have become “lost boys” when they leavethe FLDS, either by choice or by expulsion.

Brent experienced firsthand the absolute power that churchleaders wield—the kind of power that corrupts and perverts thosewho will do anything to maintain it. Once young men no longerbelong to the church, they are cast out into a world for which theyare utterly unprepared. More often than not, they succumb to thetemptations of alcohol and other drugs.

Tragically, Brent lost two of his brothers in this struggle, oneto suicide, the other to overdose. In this book he shows that lostboys can triumph and that abuse and trauma can be overcome, and hehopes that readers will be inspired to help former FLDS membersfind their way in the world.