Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer

Recently, my mom and myself have become hooked on the HBO series "Big Love" which is a summer series on the movie channel. It is about a polygamist family living secretly in mainstream society in a suburb of Salt Lake City (rest assured even though the family lives in mainstream SLC, they are still mixed up in the polygamist cult that some of them grew up in, complete with whacky leaders and crazy goings-ons, so that's all in the show too). This fictional show has sparked in us an intrigue about polygamy, fundamentalist mormonism and the likelihood that there is some reality in the show's premise.

Then, my mom spotted a review of this book, which is a real-life memoir of a woman who lived as a polygamist for about 40 years, as a child, and then again as a wife, complete with a nutty polygamist husband and a great variety of cultish communes and settlements in Mexico.

The book is fascinating and frustrating in equal measure. It is easy to get really tired of the main character, Irene, as she continually returns to this abusive, poverty stricken, demoralizing life, over and over and over again. She is completely conflicted between her unhappiness here on earth, and the promise of celestial glory (or eternal damnation if she does not cooperate). At times (most times in fact), you would just like to slap her, and I was fed up with the loser husband well before they were even married.

Still, I found the book to be a page turner. And for anyone with an interest in totally different cultural norms operating within our society, I think it a great descriptive book. She is also still living, touring and speaking, so the whole thing has a very "real" quality.

Joanne's Rating: 8/10