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Shattered Dreams (Hardcover)

by Irene Spencer (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; 1 edition (1 Sep 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1599957191
  • ISBN-13: 978-1599957197
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 16 x 3.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 919,611 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Utterly engaging... jaw-dropping stuff as Irene provides a fascinating insight into Mormon life and polygamous marriage *****' (Marie Claire )


Product Description

Irene Spencer believed God told her she must marry her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, and become his second wife. Irene did as she felt God commanded, and when the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, where she lived with Verlan, she and her family fled to Verlan’s brothers ranch.

The years in the Mexican desert with Verlan’s six brothers, his mentally ill sister, and numerous wives and children were unbelievably hard. Irene lived in broken down adobe buildings, with no running water. An outdoor toilet, old tire treads for door hinges, dim oil lamps, and recycled old clothes, served as her only material possessions. It's hard to tell which is more devastating in this memoir: the strains of husband-sharing with – ultimately – nine other wives, or the unremitting poverty that came with maintaining so many households and 56 children.

This dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused, and how one woman and her children found their way out and into truth and redemption.

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4.0 out of 5 stars HONEY, I'M HOME..., 16 Mar 2009
By Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife (Paperback)


This memoir offers in insider's look into another distinct and unique way of life. It is a way of life espoused by patriarchal, fundamentalist Mormons, who adhere to polygamy as a central tenet of their faith. This celestial law, often referred to as "The Principle", is what molds their lives from birth, and their beliefs make for fascinating reading.

The author was born in Utah, the home of Mormonism, into a fourth generation polygamous family in 1937. Consequently, she lived her life accordingly in that insular, fundamentalist community. The thirteenth of thirty-one children, the author chose to follow the tenets of her faith and marry a man who lived by "The Principle". She entered into a polygamous marriage with her half-sister's husband, Vernon LeBaron, who was a member of what would later become the notorious LeBaron family.

The author lays out what it was like to grow up in a polygamous household, and what it was like to be a wife, one of what would ultimately be nine, in a polygamous family. Her chronicle is one of desperate poverty, hunger, loneliness, and isolation, as she struggled to remain true to "The Principle". Most of the reminiscences take place in the nineteen forties though the nineteen eighties, when the author finally was liberated, after twenty-eight years of marriage, by circumstances beyond her control.

As with fundamentalism everywhere, women get the short straw, and the author illustrates that premise to great effect with her own life story. Those who enjoy reading about other cultures will find this book of great interest. This bird-eye view into the strange, cult-like world of Mormon fundamentalism will hold the reader captive and keep the pages of this book turning.
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