Favorite Wife, written by Susan Ray Schmidt. 406 pages. This book (like many others that I have read) was about this womans experience growing up, marrying, living and escaping from a polygamous community. Of course, I enjoyed it:) Here is a summary from BN.com:
A RIVETING MEMOIR OF LIFE INSIDE ONE OF NORTH AMERICA’SThere was a HUGE difference between this book, and the others that I have read about real life polygamy. The books I have read in the past were about the FLDS, the large polygamous community that we all know about up in the US. The group whose *prophey* was/is Warren Jeffs. This book, was about a different group, in Mexico. This groups prophet was Joel LeBaron, and was called the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times. From the very beginning, I was shocked by the (apparant) differences between the two groups. This group allowed women to wear pants, and relatively modern clothing (the book was set in the late 60's-mid 70's.) The author did not touch on abuse, so I assume is was not a HUGE problem, as it is in the FLDS. And the big one (for me at least,) is that, for the most part, the women choose who they want to marry... Of course, there are exceptions, like when someone pushed a girl to get married to a certain person - but this was not (to my understanding) the accepted norm. Susan had a dream, and chose (at age 15) to marry, and become the 6th wife of Verlan LeBaron. From the very beggining of her marriage, she realized that her life was not going to be all that she thought it would be... In the end, when she did leave, there did not appear to be any crazy fight for her return or anything. It seems like the people in this group do have alot more freedom than in the FLDS. They are still under some pretty freaky indoctrination... but still... I have another book here, titled Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife which is written by Susan's ex-sister wife, the 2nd wife of Verlan LeBaron. Should be another interesting read... It never really occured to me that there were more polygamous groups than just the FLDS...
MOST NOTORIOUS POLYGAMOUS CULTS She had no choice in the matter—none of the girls did. Her mission was to give birth to and raise many children in devoted service to a shared husband. Susan was fifteen years old when she became the sixth wife of Verlan LeBaron, one of the leaders of a rogue Mormon cult, who was engaged in a blood feud with his brother that from 1972 to 1988 claimed up to two dozen lives.
In this gripping and eloquent book, Susan Ray Schmidt tells the story of growing up on the inside and of her ultimate escape with her children from an oppressive and violent life. Delving more deeply into this mysterious underworld than any previous work, Favorite Wife is a powerful account of the affairs of the heart, coming of age under exceptional circumstances, and the tough choices that are sometimes painfully necessary to preserve human dignity.
Book Count : 8
Word Count : 2443
