I've been meaning for months to write entries after my book clubs meet but haven't done it. Today is different! On Sunday, my Bethesda Book Club (as I call it) read Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer. I had the opportunity to meet Irene at the ALA conference in Anaheim this June and she had offered me an hour of her time to talk to our book club and we finally made it happen. It was really awesome of her and seeings as how I'm already FASCINATED by polygamy, I was extra excited to try to get some insight into her life.
I'd already read a couple books about someone "trapped" in polygamy as part of the Fundamentalist Mormon Church so the lifestyle was not new to me, but what was new in Irene's story was that she talked a lot about sex! She was craving it constantly and well, when you share your husband with multiple wives and dozens of children, it should be no surprise that it doesn't happen often. Add to that the fact that technically, the religion believes that you only have sex to procreate and it should be no surprise that Irene was often lamenting the lack of love she received from her husband. Besides sex, she talked a lot about jealousy. She seemed constantly jealous and got enraged when her husband took another wife on a trip or spent time with another wife when it was supposed to be her time with him. While this shouldn't come as a surprise, this was the first such memoir I'd read in which this was a real issue. Interesting, for sure.
Overall, it was an interesting book and I was left with a lot of questions. Talking to Irene cleared a few of them up but overall, she spent more time telling us her "message" than she did answering specific questions. She's very, very anti-polygamy and doesn't think it's natural and is trying to get a couple of her daughters who are still living that lifestyle to get out. She realizes education is the key and that most of the people who live that way are kept sheltered from other possibilities. Her desire is to educate them. Of course, she's absolutely right that education is the key. But how?
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