Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage

by Marianne Watson, Anne Wilde, Mary Batchelor, et al.

This book is a unique collection of original essays written by 95 contemporary plural wives and 5 other women who are supportive of plural marriage. Also included is a chapter presenting historical,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155517499X
• ISBN13: 9781555174996
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Principal Voices
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

living polgamy testimonies

I am interested in the history and practice of polgamy. This book allows the reader to enter into the mind set of those living this life style and hearing their testimony and passion as to, the why, they chose this particular style of life. Well worth the read.

Important infomation

This is a must read for anyone interested in this subject. God bless

Some thoughts after reading an unusual & interesting book

Voices in Harmony is a book which looks at Mormon plural marriage from the point of view of the women involved. It is very beautifully written and insightful. At times it is very moving, for example when terrifying episodes of persecution (of polygamists) are described. Yet they remain a very spiritual, very religious people, and that undoubtedly is a strength for them in this unusual domestic arrangement. A curious fact garnered from it: the women of Utah were amoung the first in the world to be granted the vote. Washington DC granted them the vote in 1870, in the hope that they would vote for the anti-polygamy candidate. Unfortunately, the polygamous Utah wives were happy with their lot, for they voted for the Mormon candidate. Just 17 years later, in 1887, Washington evidently came to the conclusion that the women of Utah could not be trusted to vote for the "correct" candidate, and so they were disenfranchised. This happened as part of the infamous Edmunds-Tucker Act. It also occurs to me that there is a fratricidal element in this: in 1890 the LDS Church publicly retracted its support for plural marriage, in return for more respectful treatment from Washington; and nowadays, these "monogamy-only" Mormons appear to dominate state institutions in Utah--the recent Tom Green case (covered briefly in this book) being an example. I wonder, had this polygamous community been, say, moslem, or jewish, or hindu--or even patriarchal pagan--and not Mormon, wether people would want to bother them. Perhaps it would not make any difference, even so: I recall reading on the Niqabi Paralegal site, that the Native American tribes were pressured by Washington into making polygamy illegal in their tribal law, in exchange for more respectful treatment. Some tribes conceded. Others did not. But back to Voices in Harmony. Another curious historical fact: President Buchanan at one point sent an army to Utah, to finish off polygamy once and for all. But the army did not fire a shot, and had to be recalled, when the Civil War broke out."Buchanan's Folly" it was called. This is curioser than it seems: I recall reading, in Schott's Miscellany, that Buchanan was a bachelor president. A bachelor president declaring war on polygamous Mormons! Interesting. Voices in Harmony is absorbing reading, and thought-provoking. The middle section, in which 100 plural wives speak in their own words, is especially interesting. It occurred to me that even monogamous people, who want to learn the secret(s) of happy marriage and family life, could learn from this.

A Book about real women living real life

Finally, there is a book that tells of the faith, hope, courage and determination of women that live to fulfill what they want to have in their lives. You won't find any of the ridiculous sensational garbage that you read in the news. This book is about down to earth women like you and me. Women that have endured great hardship to live their religion. An excellent book for anyone wanting to know what the truth is behind the headlines and scare tatics of the news. This is truly a heartwarming journey through the lives of women from different groups and ages. Women who have dedicated their lives to living the principles they espouse.