The Hidden. The Story of 13 Children Raised in Captivity by Their Parents

Two sisters in chains. Thirteen children in captivity. And parents whom everyone thought were normal... One of America's most high-profile domestic violence cases.

On January 14, 2018, seventeen-year-old Jordan Turpin escapes through a window of their home in Perris, California, and calls 911. With a trembling voice, she reports that she and her siblings are being held captive by their parents. There are thirteen children in the family, and two of her sisters are chained to their beds. When the dispatcher asks for the address, the girl stumbles: «I’ve never been outside before».

The arriving police officers were shocked by what they saw: emaciated children aged two to twenty-nine, many of whom looked much younger than their years, a filthy house, a heavy stench, and a world hidden from outsiders for decades. Behind the doors of an ordinary large family existed a reality in which the children lived in isolation, fear, and complete subjugation.

John Glatt — one of the most well-known authors of true crime — meticulously reconstructs the Turpin family's story: from the parents' past to the events of that night when one phone call changed everything. But this is not just a crime story. It is the story of thirteen children who, despite years of abuse and isolation, found the strength to survive and start a new life.