Books about Polygamy

[theinvisiblegirl]

I'm always looking for a good book by former members of the FLDS and other groups of Fundamental Mormonism, and it seems like I'm always missing some. So I thought, with the help of fellow FJers, we could compile a list? I'll start with all the ones I know, then I'd love for others to have a running list, especially as new books are released.

• Escape - Carolyn Jessop
• Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamist Sect, Becoming a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs - Elissa Wall
• Lost Boy - Brent W. Jeffs
• Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faiths - Jon Krakauer
• Prophet's Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints - Sam Brower
• Triumph - Carolyn Jessop
• The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice - Rebecca Musser
• Church of Lies - Flora Jessop
• When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back - Stephen Singular
• Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife - Irene Spencer
• Answer Them Nothing: Bringing Down the Polygamous Empire of Warren Jeffs - Debra Weyermann
• Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy - Sanjiv Bhattacharya
• Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement - Irene Spencer
• The Sound of Gravel - Ruth Wariner
• Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk: Growing Up in Polygamy - Dorothy Allred Solomon
• Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage - Joe Darger
• Keep Sweet: Children of Polygamy - Debbie Palmer
• His Favorite Wife: Trapped in Polygamy - Susan Ray Schmidt
• God's Brothel: The Extortion of Sex for Salvation - Andrea Moore-Emmett
• Saints Under Siege: The Texas Stat Raid on the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints - Stuart A. Wright
• Illegitimate: How A Loving God Rescued a Son of Polygamy
• Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up in Polygamy by Dorothy Allred Solomon
• The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in a Polygamous Mormon Sect - Daphne Bramham
• Daughters of Zion: A Family's Conversion to Polygamy - Kim Taylor
• The Fourth Wife: Polygamy, Love, & Revolution - Carolyn O'Bagy Davis
• What Peace There May Be: A Memoir - Susanna Barlow
• Inside the World of Warren Jeffs - Carole Western
• Seventeen Sisters: Tell Their Story - Barbara Barlow and Virginia Webb
• Becoming Sister Wives: The Story of an Unconventional Marriage - Kody Brown, Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Christine Brown, and Robyn Brown
• The Blood Covenant - Rena Chynoweth

Fictional books:

• The 19th Wife - David Ebershoff
• Keep Sweet - Michelle Dominguez Greene
• The Righteous - Michael Wallace
• Desert Wives - Betty Webb
• The Chosen One - Carol Lynch Williams
• Hidden Wives - Claire Avery
• Torn by God: A Family's Struggle with Polygamy - Zoe Murdock
• The Lonely Polygamist - Brady Udall
• Sister Wife - Shelley Hrdlitschka

I'm sure I'm missing some, if not a bunch?

 

[NerdyHil]

Ooh, there are some on this list I haven't read! Thanks! I've got a 10 day house and puppy-sitting sentence in the middle of nowhere. This could save my sanity.

 

[Angelic83]

The 19th wife is also a good book to read. It's a story set in modern day and tells the story of one of the wives of Brigham young. It's written by David Erbershoff

 

 

[theinvisiblegirl]

6 hours ago, Angelic83 said:

The 19th wife is also a good book to read. It's a story set in modern day and tells the story of one of the wives of Brigham young. It's written by David Erbershoff

I've read that one as well! Maybe I'll edit my original post to include fictional polygamy books, too.

[BabyBottlePop]

I think I've read nearly every one of these  Gotta hold out for more. 

I have one I haven't read yet called Daughter of the Saints by Dorothy Allred Solomon.

[theinvisiblegirl]

I've added some more to the list!

[MarblesMom]

I am starting Escape tomorrow.  Just got it at the library.  Looks like a great read.

[theinvisiblegirl]

10 hours ago, MarblesMom said:

I am starting Escape tomorrow.  Just got it at the library.  Looks like a great read.

Escape was my introduction to the fucked up world of the FLDS. My 8th grade social studies teacher told us about it, and I went to the library a week later to get it. If you like it, definitely try to get Triumph! It tells more stories from her days in the FLDS, plus covers the Texas raid in El Dorado.

[Minnesota]

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (fiction). Great book!

[19 cats and counting]

I just picked up The Witness Wore Red at my Little Free Library (have a penny leave a penny for books).

I have another (library) book out now that's ahead of it in line but how is it?

(I've read Lost Boys, Escape, and Stolen Innocence and loved them).

[theinvisiblegirl]

1 hour ago, 19 cats and counting said:

I just picked up The Witness Wore Red at my Little Free Library (have a penny leave a penny for books).

I have another (library) book out now that's ahead of it in line but how is it?

(I've read Lost Boys, Escape, and Stolen Innocence and loved them).

I just got The Witness Wore Red from the library today as well. I also picked up Shattered Dreams, Jenna Miscavige Hill's book about Scientology, and an unrelated book that's not about freaky cults. I'm most excited for The Witness Wore Red, though. I've heard amazing things about it.

[LMDinHarlem]

I recently read Seventeen Sisters: Tell Their Story, by Barbara Barlow and Virginia Webb, which I recommend despite the fact that the writing is at times extremely bad. Some of the stories are just a few pages long, and feel like letters written as a favor to the writer, while others are much longer and more detailed. If you've read most of the books on the list, you'll recognize some familiar names pop up here and there. 

[RabbitKM]

I've read Escape recently.  Also, someone in my book club picked Under the Banner of Heaven for July!

[Grimalkin]

I found Cult of Insanity at the thrift store and finally reading it now. 

[Mela99]

I need to add more of these. I've only read about a quarter of these. The one Irene wrote was horrifying - living in Mexico and finding worms in her baby's diapers all the time...

[theinvisiblegirl]

14 hours ago, Mela99 said:

I need to add more of these. I've only read about a quarter of these. The one Irene wrote was horrifying - living in Mexico and finding worms in her baby's diapers all the time...

Which one is that? Shattered Dreams? I haven't started that one yet.

[apandaaries]

Also, The Blood Covenant, by Rena Chynoweth (with Dean M. Shapiro).  It's another one about the LeBaron family -- just starting it, but it's looking good.  

We could also consider including the Browns' book, Becoming Sister Wives. 

This is an excellent list. Thanks for compiling it!

[theinvisiblegirl]

On 6/30/2016 at 2:00 PM, amandaaries said:

Also, The Blood Covenant, by Rena Chynoweth (with Dean M. Shapiro).  It's another one about the LeBaron family -- just starting it, but it's looking good.  

We could also consider including the Browns' book, Becoming Sister Wives. 

This is an excellent list. Thanks for compiling it!

I can't believe I forgot the Browns' book. I own it! Adding them to the list now.

[Angelic83]

Politcsprinciple tumblr has another book for our list. The cult by amy nielsen @theinvisiblegirl

[xlurker]

On 6/28/2016 at 2:36 PM, 19 cats and counting said:

I just picked up The Witness Wore Red at my Little Free Library (have a penny leave a penny for books).

I have another (library) book out now that's ahead of it in line but how is it?

(I've read Lost Boys, Escape, and Stolen Innocence and loved them).

I recently read this, and it left me just shaking my head.  These people are truly bizarre!  It was a great read, and I actually had a hard time putting it down.  Also read I fired God.  It is about the Independent Baptists, but also a great look into the abyss...

[BabyBottlePop]

Has anyone on here read this? It's about Bountiful and I can't wait to start it! 

[Justmurrayed]

1 minute ago, BabyBottlePop said:

Has anyone on here read this? It's about Bountiful and I can't wait to start it! 

It's great! I loved reading it since I'm Canadian(and now I'm in the same province!!)

I'm glad there's a list out now since i thought I'd read them all including all the fiction books but there's a couple I haven't read. Definitely going to have to check them out. 

[TakingBibleClasses]

It's not a book, but I'd recommend the Year of Polygamy podcast put out by Feminist Mormon Housewives: http://www.yearofpolygamy.com/

The podcast's host--Lindsay Hansen Park--is a liberal Mormon (currently inactive in the LDS church?) who grew up as a conservative Mormon. She spent a year researching the history of Mormon polygamy, starting with the wives of Joseph Smith and ending with contemporary Mormon fundamentalism. Park has fascinating insight into how polygamy still shapes mainstream LDS doctrine and culture (e.g. she grew up constantly worrying that she'd have to share her husband in the afterlife), and she brings on some really knowledgable and fascinating people (some of whom have already been mentioned here) to share their firsthand and/or scholarly expertise.

[Soulhuntress]

The sixth of seven wives by Mary Mackert

[apandaaries]

Looks like it's time for another update!  We now have The Sound of Gravel, by Ruth Wariner, Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs, by Rachel Jeffs, and The Polygamist's Daughter: A Memoir, by Anna LeBaron. I had no idea that a LeBaron daughter had written a book, too.  Just placed my order for these, so I have nothing to report about them beyond their titles...and that I can't wait to read them. 

ETA: There's also When Men Become Gods: Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back, by Stephen Singular.