Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy

by Sanjiv Bhattacharya

Book Overview

What do we really know about modern practicing polygamists--not fictional ones like the Henrickson family on HBO's Big Love ? We've seen the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the news, the underage brides in pioneer dresses on a Texas ranch. But the FLDS is just one of many groups that have broken with mainstream Mormonism to follow those parts of Joseph Smith's doctrine disavowed by the LDS Church. Gaining unprecedented access to these communities, journalist Sanjiv Bhattacharya reveals a shadow country teeming with small town messiahs, dark secrets, and stories both heartbreaking and strange. Polygamy's dark side--incest, forced marriages, and physical abuse--is laid bare. But Bhattacharya also finds warmth in the fundamentalist diaspora and even finds himself taking an ideological stand for polygamy's legalization. More than just an expose of Mormon polygamy, Secrets and Wives is the personal journey of a foreign atheist and liberal, a stranger in a strange land who grapples with hard questions about marriage, monogamy, and the very nature of faith.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593764081
• ISBN13: 9781593764081
• Release Date: June 2011
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press
• Length: 367 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A serious subject treated with sympathy and humor

Bhattacharya treats the subject of polygamy, as currently practiced by various offshoots from the Latter-day Saint movement (often referred to as LDS or Mormon), with humor, occasional wry insight, and sympathy. He approaches his subjects as neutrally as possible, gaining a degree of trust rarely seen in these situations. As a product of the practice of polygamy myself, and personally acquainted with many of the people he interviewed and wrote about, I found this a fascinating and satisfying read.