Secrets and Wives: The Hidden World of Mormon Polygamy

by Sanjiv Bhattacharya

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.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Polygamy, Cults, History, Biography, Mormonism

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm immersed in a world run by God, who was a man, and His committee of 144,000 lesser gods, says Bhattacharya, who put spirits into bodies and build worlds for the good, polygamous men to each have their own planet and be elevated to Gods themselves. This God though doesn't like women very much but which gods do? women always get the rough end they can be given away by the church to a good man. A man with 7 wives is obviously more deserving than one who has only been given two. Donations to the Church can't hurt in becoming a good man, the author suggests

And what of these chattels? They can't earn eternal life they can only be rewarded with it if they are obedient and support their men, no matter if he has 19 wives and 75 children and in the words of one daughter, "couldn't hardly ever remember my name." If these wives find favour in the eyes of their husband, they too can be elevated to be with him and all his wives and offspring on the planet he will rule now he is a God. If however their husband falls from grace, then the church will reassign them and their children to another man to honour, obey, serve and have sex with even if they don't want to, and even if it is their now-ex husband's father, so they will still have a chance at immortality.

At least that's what Bhattacharya says all this polygamy is about. I have no idea how close this fairy-tale sounding story is to what the polygamist cults of the Church of Latter Day Saints really believe.

There are no polygamist Mormons. the Church denies they are Mormons. So one is an offshoot of the other. Religions always reserve their greatest hatred for the same-but-different ones although some have become 'progressive' about it. Think Catholics and Protestants, Orthodox and Reform Jews (although very modified because since the Holocaust there aren't that many Jews left to go in for major sectarian hate), Sunni and Shia Muslims etc.

Although the Mormons say the polygamists are no part of their Church, this is just an official line. they have never repudiated the practice as not being holy, only that Mormons are bound to obey the law of the land which the LDS does. But not it's offshoots and related cults. Today there are cities founded, populated and still to a great extent run by polygamists, Centennial City and Colorado City. This is more like tv's Big Love and Sister Wives - everyone's got a good job, a nice car and fashionable clothes, not so much the pastel dresses of the FLDS much beloved of tv documentaries.

Vicky Prunty who left a polygamous marriage and was a campaigner and founder of a pressure group against polygamy (disbanded 2009) and rescuer of women who wanted to leave the cults said in a conversation with the author,

"The government is working with the polygamists now. We give the AG [attorney general] information, but instead of going after these people like normal criminals, nothing happens. No arrests, no subpoenas, nothing. They just don’t want to bring attention to it. They want Mitt Romney to be president.”

“But they went after Warren Jeffs.”

“Yes, but that’s a way of distracting attention from the bigger picture. You have to remember, this state was founded by polygamists. It has culturally embraced polygamy. You need to explain that in your book, the whole history of Mormonism—that’s what this is about. The LDS Church put money into stopping gay marriage, but they’re not doing anything to oppose the fundamentalists who are trying to get polygamy decriminalized. So you have to wonder, do they want this to come back?”

Have things changed?

Yes and no. No, the Mormons are still only paying lipservice to dismantling the polygamists from a legal point of view, but the rest of the world has moved on and polygamy is no longer seen as an evil. We call the modern version polyamory and tv shows like Sister Wives with the insufferable Cody and his harem of well-dressed, financially stable, outspoken wives look modern. But there's a big difference between polyamory and polygamy:

Polyamory is free choice for both partners. Polygamy though is power for the man, "It all boils down to the intimacy and the sex. Whenever you structure a relationship where one person can have sex with whomever they want, but all the others have to be exclusive to that person, you give them a hell of a lot of power."

I have no idea how much of this is true. All I'm getting is the author's voice and he is no fan of the LDS, not at all. He's an atheist, his parents are Hindus, but for some reason he wants to write about the further fringes of Mormonism. I don't know if this a hatchet job, fantasy or The Truth as Seen through Objective Eyes. It's a very odd book. I don't know why he wrote it.

[Barbara Z. · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite reads of the year, and a fresh take on a subject which has been nearly wrung-dry in most media. Some people will never get enough of the autobiographical "I escaped polygamy" genre, but I did, and the subset of those books which wind up with the author finding Jesus makes me cower in apprehension of the sequel, when the victim escapes their new cult.

But "Secrets and Wives" isn't like any of those books, nor like any non-fiction tome I've hefted on the subject. It's a personal story of an outsider, looking in: oddly, deeply IN, and bringing back out his own take on the people, places and distorted histories of fundamentalist LDS sects.

While the book is extremely moving, and frequently disturbing as it unveils the tragedy of women and children, and men of distorted position, it's also rich with humor and personal anecdotes, making it a very enjoyable read as well and tantalizingly informative. Sanjiv Bhattacharya is a writer with a broad range of interests and a documentary filmmaker who attempted to parlay his previous work with FLDS into the connections he needed for this book. Does he succeed? It's worth reading this book to decide that for yourself.

I particularly recommend this book for readers who rarely venture into non-fiction, or who find such reading pedantic and "a chore". You will be pleasantly surprised!

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had much higher expectations from this book than it reached, but still glad I read it. Bhattacharya managed a great deal of access to several of the organised polygamous groups around Utah and the US desert, and with a journalist's appreciation for who, what, when, where and why, his outline of the details of the groups and their relationships with each other alone makes the book worth reading.

It focuses mainly on the smaller groups - one of my frustrations was my interest in the AUB, which Bhattacharya mentions in the context of groups who welcomed him, but never covers at all. Instead, he devotes a substantial amount of space to the Order, and some of the very small groups. The reason is partly obvious - the isolation, thoroughly wacky beliefs, and allegations of abuse can make for compelling reading. I suspect the book was originally intended to focus on the all-powerful leaders ("prophets") of these groups, but when access to them was denied, it sidestepped a bit.

Bhattacharya also deals with the political events and impact of the group over the time he was writing the book, including the raids on the FLDS Texas compound, and the resulting court cases. This was one of the best round-ups of this material I have read.

The groups he covers in detail, he covers thoroughly, explaining history, core beliefs, and what life is like for members. He's far more interested in the isolated lifestyle, and community organisation than he is in "how do they manage jealousy" which is a blessed relief from popular discourse on polygamy.

He also has some astute analysis of the political aims and motivations of the broad polygamist lobby - the "plural voices" crowd - particularly their aims to make alliances with liberals, and their use of the gay marriage debate (despite the major groups' opposition to legalising gay marraige) to do so.

Unfortunately, I found the supercilious tone of the author infuriating - he describes both anti-polygamy activists and polygamists with the same mix of sarcasm and condescension. An ever-present narrator, he muses on events in his own life as a way of highlighting his themes, but the result is just to entrench the feeling that he believes he is not only smarter and better than his subjects, but probably more interesting as well. You get the sense that he is violating the trust of those he interviewed for the sake, not of exposing abuse, but of scoring laughs. The exception is his description of some of the young people leaving the communities, or wishing to leave. Bhattacharya is clearly impressed with the courage of a couple of young Order members challenging the cult in their own way, mostly however, even these are portrayed in very patronising terms, as victims unable to own their own victimhood. It gets in the way of the analysis, as Bharttacharya's view seems mostly to be simply to be that it is individual weaknesses or situations that cause women to get into this mess, rather than examining any self-sustaining dynamics (reasons for women to stay other than fear).

Overall, I just wished he had spent more time on the communities more integrated in Utah life, who can't rely on the intense social isolation to control their members and who are the loudest in publicly repudiating the underage marriages, and domestic violence, that characterise the FLDS and the Order. The ideas and gender organisation of the Big Love and Sister Wives crowd, which has made inroads into social acceptance in the U.S. and has much more influence on LDS members and the public at large is more interesting to me than the exploration of the dynamics of cults. But I can't really blame the book for being something other than that :)

[Bryan Schatz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book blew me away. You are immediately launched into an entirely intriguing and wholly bizarre world where prophets dictate their mini-societies, outsiders are looked on with suspicion, and the apocalypse is surely just around the corner. It's incredibly entertaining, often hilarious, but also is a story told with compassion. As the author penetrates the various polygamist communities, you get a real sense of the individuals and families whose lives have been formed around fundamentalist beliefs and values, and as their stories unfold, you can't help but begin to care deeply about them. What is impressive is how far the author was able to venture into this world, gaining remarkable access - especially considering that these communities generally view the press with disdain. A very informative, great read.

[Louisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So about a third of the way through Secrets and Wives it went missing. I searched everywhere for it--through various rarely used handbags, bookshelves (both at home and at the library), behind the bed where many a book has in the past gone to die but nothing. It seemed to have vanished.

And then three days ago, I found it under a pile of to-be-dry-cleaned coats in my closet. Weird--which could pretty much sum up the disturbing but ultimately rewarding adventure that is reading it.

The thing is, it's often funny and always inspiring and all the things one doesn't expect from the bad fundamentalist Mormon polygamist book. Sanjiv Bhattacharya does a gutsy and potentially erroneous thing by casting himself as a "character" in the book. The first third of the book (the third of the book I read pre-book going missing) I found his stubborn insertion of self into the narrative rather off-putting but upon my return to the dark world of evil (and some not so evil) polygamy a month later, I found myself laughing out loud at Bhattacharya's wry recreation of a conversation he had with his wife regarding what he would do if some poor teenage wife were to ask for his help--buy another another blow-up air mattress at Target.

The truth is, there has been a lot of books written about the fucked up excesses found in many Mormon fundamentalist communities. When I began Secrets and Wives and found myself with a smirking Anglo-Indian atheist author smirking at the ugly weirdo Mormon chicks at the Vermillion Cafe in Colorado City, I felt lost. Where were the fucked up excesses? Where were the lurid details? Where was the empathy?

The amazing (and I know, I rarely use that word) thing about the book and Bhattacharya in particular is it's profound lack of sensationalism and the false pity party superiority bullshit that usually results from that kind of journalism.

In turn, the reader gets instead the amazing and distinctly not pitiful stories of some really brave individuals rather than victims. The story of Angie in particular has lingered for days.

[Waywardspirit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanjiv more than anything, in my experience, connected. I appreciate this more than I can thank him for. Most writers, looking into, or escaping Mormon fundamentalism or polygamy, seem to have that big axe to grind or chop with. I'm fascinated by the way he looked into my own issues, since the whole story is sorta mine. He sorted it out for me. A cathartic experience I might add. Better than therapy. Sanjiv brought his own parallel quest into mysticism with hilarious, colorful, perspective to this enigma that hasn't been addressed in other books on polygamy that I've read. Why would anyone ever get mixed up in one of these religions? Sanjiv shows us the basic human need, from his own search for the miraculous. He gets pretty close to the unimaginable bright side of the quest into the inferno. Why would Dante go down to an Inferno anyway? Why would anyone? My own answer to that is what I got for myself through my completed polygamus religious journey. Sanjiv gets it. I feel got. That hasn't ever happened to me before.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I actually read the about 25% of this book and sent it back to Amazon for a refund. While the author talks about how he wants to write an unbiased, untainted book on polygamy his disdain for the Mormon religion and his personal rants clearly showed his lack of respect for the lifestyle and the religion. I am a sociologist and I wanted to read a more factual book, one that presented the issue of polygamy in a different light than what was already out there. I wanted to see a culturally relativistic book and what I got was exactly the same as all the other books on Mormonism and Polygamy. The fact is that Mormonism is a fast growing worldwide religion and I would like to understand more about it as well as understand what causes people to choose the lifestyle and the authors disdain for the people and the religion were obvious right from the beginning.

[andrew y · Rating 3 out of 5]

there were a couple glimpses of fascinating subcultures in this book, especially in the 1/2 - 3/4 range. but what came before really grates - the author tries to be funny or cram in his obvious intelligence to make sure we are on his side during most of the introduction, and in the conclusion he meets a couple more people who are really out of place in the narrative but apparently included for chronological purposes. it is hard to believe the author was as quick-witted and thoughtful in all his conversations, especially as the way others respond to him seems to paint him as a martyr through no fault of his own.
and yet, and yet. with all those complaints, this covers ground I have never seen covered elsewhere, and I've read plenty about fundamentalist Mormon communities. for that alone this book is worth reading and is a valuable addition to the discourse even with all the caveats. my biggest disappointment is that the author's belief in his own mission, and hypocritical presentation of it to multiple parties, led to him being cut off from fulfilling the reporting aspect of his work. with a bit more finesse and actual rather than faux understanding this could have been a bestseller. oh well.

[Hanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanjiv Bhattacharya is definitely out for a juicy scoop here... Nevertheless, he does a good job. Although the book is interesting and readable it's also full of cultural stereotyping and assumptions. It's worth noting that a British-Indian may not be the best choice of person to try to approach these groups, given (1) their prejudice against dark skinned people, and (2) Mormonism is a very American religion. Another reservation is that Bhattacharya approaches the topic of polygamy with a smug "secularity-is-always-best" attitude. He is an atheist and has a somewhat condescending or patronising view of religious people. A book like this, written by a Mormon with a better understanding of the faith, would have been more interesting.

Politically correct themes such as the alleged normality of homosexuality and contempt for Creationism are considered the norm in this book. I found that Bhattacharya categorized the people he met with (the mormon fundamentalists) either as helpless victims, or as stupid/misled or evil/scheming/manipulative. Some fall in-between, or are a combination. The stories of the people who left the polygamous groups are accepted without any challenge, even in a case where the story does not appear credible and where the person has been proven in court to have lied about their experiences. While ex-fundamentalists undoubtedly had a difficult times as they moved into secular life, a story is very rarely black and white. For instance, the girl referred to as Jessica, from the Kingston group did not add up to me. A bit more nuance or distance to her story would have been prudent. Instead it was taken at face value despite the inconsistencies. Bhattacharya did not seek a perspective from anyone else involved.

Despite this criticism, Bhattacharya added a lot to to the existing body of literature on polygamous groups. If this interests you, I recommend that you get the book. Take his cynicism with a pinch of salt.

I read the audio version of the book which is narrated by the author himself. I recommend this version. Sanjiv Bhattacharya is a good narrator.

[Tanya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I put this on my "to-read" list back when my book club was discussing Anna LeBaron's The Polygamist's Daughter . I hoped to get more information about the various polygamist splinter groups, and this purported to be an even-handed journalistic approach. The first two chapters were chatty and interesting, making a good case for the recent change in public perception of polygamy. But right away I noticed a condescending tone in Bhattacharya's writing. On the book jacket he claims to have found empathy with his subjects, but he belittles nearly every person he mentions in the first 40 pages. Honestly, these chapters put me in mind of a gossipy teenage girl who ridicules everyone behind their backs, while at the same time claiming to be a faithful friend.

And then I read chapter 3. This is the chapter that is supposed to recount the origin of Mormonism itself, long before all the splinter groups went their separate ways. Let me be clear that I am a very devoted practicing Mormon, one who has done a great deal of study on my religion. I was disgusted by what Bhattacharya wrote, and appalled that he calls himself an objective journalist. I checked his footnotes constantly. No surprise: his sources are the usual line-up of anti-Mormon literature. Now I don't expect those from outside my religion to believe what I believe, but I do expect them to try to understand our history and doctrine from the inside, and at the very least be respectful. This author mocks The Book of Mormon, completely misrepresents sacred beliefs, and even nastily calls Joseph Smith "charismatic, a convenient liar and quite incapable of keeping it in his pants."

When this man so easily slanders my church's history, my beliefs, and my culture, why on earth should I trust anything he reports about another group of people? He clearly relishes picking out all the unsavory bits, making things appear as scandalous as possible, and wants to draw our salacious attention. I will need to find a different source for objective information on fundamentalist sects, because I don't trust Bhattacharya in the slightest.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Sanjiv Bhattacharya's book. He didn't seem to have an ax to grind with the polygamist families. He did a lot of leg work and research in order to bring the reader a view of many of the polygamist cults in Utah. I felt his growth through the book. I didn't enjoy the beginning of the book as much as the middle and end because he seemed at bit too sarcastic, but as he learned more about the culture of polygamy, I saw his growth, and his sarcasm became tempered with understanding. I was glad he didn't lose the sarcasm because I liked it once it was tempered a bit.

He said that the LDS church sends missionaries out at age 17. This is not true. Young men can serve after they turn 19 and women can serve after they turn 21. He also calls Angie's son Jacob at one point which confused me until I realized that he was talking about James. Overall the book is well written, and I could see his personality in the book. Good job with voice.

I loved when he gets mad at himself for swearing when he is trying to get an interview with James Harmston because the swearing would not go over well in that environment. I was saddened at Ron's story about the tape measure; it shows how important it is for fathers to acknowledge their children. Children need the love of their fathers; his story made me tear up. Stephanie's and Andrea's stories are incredibly horrible. It makes me wonder why Utah's AG hasn't pressed more sexual abuse charges against the Kingstons. The term Sanjiv uses of "polygamy fatigue" is very fitting because I've experienced it, and I love that he gave it a name.

[K2 ----- · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating but also quite depressing knowing this underworld exists. It rambled a bit too much and could have had a much heavier editing hand.

Bhattacharya, an atheist, sets out to try to comprehend the fringe elements of the LDS and presents to us the story of plural marriage as he understands it. Being East Indian, and an outsider, he stood out most places he went to research this book and encountered more than his share of closed doors. The doors he did get to open were allowed a glimpse into a world few of us get such a close look at. Although cheeky in parts that did help to break up these stories of a patriarchal world riddled with child abuse and inbreeding that would make any reader's skin crawl. It is easy to see how women get stuck in all this and how difficult it must be to escape given the tight knit nature of the group and the utter dependence it fosters.

A dear friend asked if it would be a good book club book and I had to answer no. It is a book that would only be for those who are very interested in cults. It would not be of interest to a general audience. Having said that I am glad that I read it, I could never get into "Under the Banner of Heaven" that I bought at a tag sale for $1 and I did learn quite a bit about this baffling religious tradition and the corruption that surrounds it allowing it to go on regardless off the laws broken along the way.

I have heard some scary stories of this fringe element in Utah and Idaho and I always wondered how much truth there was to them, now I realize there is likely much truth but also lots sensationalized by the media for mass consumption too.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I started this but I really liked it. The documenting of the evolution of the Mormon Fundamentalist groups from inception to modern day is fascinating. And it goes deeper to include personal stories that had me laughing out loud or tearing up from one page to the next.

I think because the author is an atheist it gave him a different perspective on the polygamy issue than I've seen before. He didn't seem to have preconceived notions or judgements on the subject. And because he didn't have any axes to grind most fundamentalists he interviewed were surprisingly open with him. It all comes together to make an informative, interesting and entertaining read.

[Jeremytucker31 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sanjiv has put together the most comprehensive and honest piece on Utah's Mormon Fundamentalist culture yet. Previously, great books have been done by ex members on their specific stories of escape, but Secrets and Wives gives you a realistic view of all the major players. Sanjiv shows the influence that these groups already have on Utah politics and the resulting "Blind Eye" that Utah officials turn on Mormon Fundamentalist criminals. Even though the book covers a very dark and serious subject Sanjiv will have you laughing with his well timed sense of humor.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author had limited access--despite his tenacity--trying to penetrate the secret world of polygamists. The writing was scattered and the stories, though individualized and personal, were more anecdotal in nature, stereotypical, and lacked real in-depth reportage.

The author goes off on a couple of personal rants that definitely, for me, took away from the core storyline. I didn’t discover any new information about this subject and was less than impressed with the final product.

[Ingrid Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. By far the best polygamy book I've read.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating look inside the the hidden world of US Mormon-based polygamy. This isn't the vanilla world of Sister Wives, or at least the little bits of that show I've managed to sit through. These are the groups that have 'compounds', entire towns, family trees that don't fork. Oh, and secrecy. The author spends a lot of time with hardcore believers to get inside their heads, and brings back a frightening, irreverent mix of notes about power, patriarchy, religious belief, freedom, and control.

This book is a compelling look at a completely different way of valuing every relationship a person has. For me, reading about modern day polygamy is like taking a test designed to probe of my ability to hold competing beliefs simultaneously: I believe in the freedom of religion AND in protecting the vulnerable (the beaten wife, the 12 year old girl forced into marriage, etc.). Aren't those absolutes? Is a 'balance' possible here? No idea.

What I do know:
If I had a daughter, I would never want her (or any young lady I cared about) to do or go through what the women in this book do and experience. I would never want my son (or any young man I cared about) to do or experience what the author describes in these uniformly patriarchal societies. None of the adherents to this lifestyle seem genuine. They don't seem capable of spontaneity or independent thought. And none appear to be 'happy'.

It's all about the kids, isn't it? The adults do what they want but the children are helpless. Perhaps it's like this everywhere.

The author makes no secret of his feelings about organized religion. He is funny, and genuinely cares about the victims here (the underage girls who flee from the various groups). The writing gets a bit 'he said, she said' when it comes to the accusations and allegations between members and former members. I probably skipped entire pages - this is why I gave only three stars to an otherwise four star book.

But if you want a glimpse into this hidden world, this is a great place to start.

[Corianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been on my radar for years, but something else always seemed to weasel it's way to the top of my reading list. Recently, though, the mainstream Mormon church announced that kids with gay parents can't become children of record, can't be baptized until they turn 18, and only then if they disavow their parents. This came with the justification that children of polygamists are treated the same way. My response to that has been "polygamists tend to belong to their own sects of Mormonism, their own religions" but I realized I didn't know how true that was. Is there polygamy in the mainstream church? I picked up Secrets and Wives in part to find out (short answer, yes. But it's kept secret out of necessity.)

Growing up in rural Utah, I've been aware of the polygamist communities my whole life. Heck, I share ancestors with some down in Short Creek. I didn't learn anything blindsidingly new about polygamy, and I'm actually okay with that. What Bhattacharya did masterfully was put a personality to practicing polygamists. He shows their humanity, their faith, their joys and sorrows.

Secrets and Wives is as much about Bhattacharya's search for polygamy, and his attempts to enter their communities as it is the polygamists themselves. Bhattacharya is about as far from a Mormon polygamist as you can get, and comes into this project with very little foreknowledge. Still, his personal bias shows clearly when it comes to the discussion of religion. He treats all religion flippantly, and is downright disrespectful of the faith of the people he's writing about. This bothered me--I feel like faith is a personal, private thing and mocking someone else's religion is extremely rude, at best.

I'm not going to rush to add Secrets and Wives to my personal library, but I'm glad my public library had it, and I'm glad to have read it. I'll suggest it to others, but I don't see myself re-reading.

[Michelle Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying the tone and pace of this book. WHile the subject is serious, one gets the feeling that the author does not take himself too seriously.


I just finished this book. It was a little daunting, the number of people that one had to keep straight, got to me at points in the reading. I also was a bit overwhelmed by the Mormon and fundamentalist Mormon doctrine.

The thing that sets this book apart for me, as a person who has read many works of nonfiction about Mormon polygamists in America, is that the book does not try to engage the reader to feel any certain way about polygamy, Mormons, the fundamentalist Mormons or any of it. He just tells the story as he seems to have found it and leaves the choice of what you believe up to the individual. I did not feel compelled to judge at all. I was appalled by many thins that I read but not particularly surprised as much of the basic information, child brides, brutal child abuse, child molestation, the hoarding of wives by the leaders in the community was all familiar territory.

It was interesting to learn what happened to Tapestry Against Polygamy, an organization I learned about from television shows in the eighties.

I found Sanjiv's hands off approach to this subject to be interesting and I would definitely read something else by this author.

[Ella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written and surprisingly funny at points, Bhattacharya's in depth investigation of various polygamous Mormon sects in Utah is definitely worth a read for anyone interested in modern Mormonism, fundamentalism, and religious life in America. Hardly as sensational as Jon Krakauer's similar themed "Under the Banner of Heaven", Sanjiv Bhattacharya seems determined to remain objective and is present throughout the work as both a narrator and investigator. For the most part, his detachment is successful, although at times his frustrations with the secrecy of polygamy and disgust with the practices of certain groups and practitioners is evident. I regret that the book did not include more interviews with various independent practitioners and other major sects, and at times I wished the narrator/author was not as present in the arc of the book. Overall an engrossing and interesting read, if at times it read a bit like a long magazine article.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book but it's hard to say "liked it!". It is well-written and engaging. The author strives to present a view of some of the less well-known Mormon polygamous sects and communities, not just the Warren Jeffs/FLDS group that's been all over the media. And he does a good job, somehow gaining these people's trust (by and large) and gaining access to groups that had not spoken to any journalists before.

Be warned: This book contains some graphic descriptions of child abuse and its aftermath that made sections incredibly difficult to read. Physical and verbal abuse are described, as is the horrible aftermath of sexual abuse of children. It's really hard to read; I can't imagine the toll that hearing and writing these stories took on the author. Excuse me while I have a little cry now.

...Okay, better. It's well worth reading, but please be aware of that content if it's something you're sensitive to.

[Spencer Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised this book was as good as it was. I brought it home from the library on a whim. Thinking that I'd skim through it. Growing up mormon, and having read quite a bit of books from former FLDS members I thought there was nothing new I could learn. Wow. I had no idea there were so many groups out there. Many reviews say that Bhattacharaya rambled, but he didn't. The thing is, there's no way to make sense out of all of these polygamist groups. There's offshoots of the mainstream mormon church, but then there's offshoots of those offshoots. It's neverending. It's just shear chaos. To think that this south asian came into their communities, got passed the barriers and was able to build trustworthy relationships with these people is just amazing. It's a miracle he was able to talk with as many people as he did. It's barely believable that this kind of stuff is going on in this country in this day

[Morris Thurston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book entertaining and diverting. Bhattacharya is a talented writer and he keeps the reader engaged by inserting himself into his story of the various offshoot Mormon polygamous cults. The book is creative nonfiction and, as such, one wonders how much creative license he has taken.

This book is not about the mainstream Mormon Church, which discarded polygamy over 100 years ago. However, in order to introduce the subject, Bhattacharya includes a chapter on Mormon history and he sometimes gets it wrong. He could have benefitted by having a qualified Mormon historian review at least that chapter before he published it. It makes me a little suspicious of his summaries of the various offshoot polygamous groups, but I don't know enough about them to say how accurate they are.

However, I learned more about this subject than I ever knew and was entertained in the process, so I would give it a qualified recommendation.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at polygamy told by an exceedingly balanced author. As fair as he is in the telling of this tale, I can't find any redeeming attributes to the practice of polygamy. Brainwashing, abuse, and the victimization of women is extremely prevalent. Sure, there may be an exception here and there - but I think even in the seemingly good situations, the women lose their voice and thus their ability to say this is wrong. It takes a very strong woman to step away from the cult. Mr. Bhattacharya states towards the very end of the book, "You shouldn't find God because of what you want but because of what you no longer need. And yet in fundamentalism, the carrot is the key. Without the prize, the path loses its meaning." This equates to a fear-based "religion." If you don't do as I say then you are condemened to something awful. Shouldn't religion, rather, be about how we live right now? The path, in and of itself, is meaningful.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A phenomenally well written book that goes deeply into a topic that many do not know about: polygamy in the USA. This author went where many don't want to go-- right into the heart of the often secretive cults in the American West. Well written, humorous at times, honest. Highly recommend for anyone wanting to know about this hidden culture in the USA. It is estimated that over 100,000 people in our country live in a polygamous cult.

Survivors of abuse should use discernment before reading this book. Some of the cults exercise horrific abuse on a daily basis. Others use more subtle spiritual and emotional abuse. But all of them are abusive. Some practice incest. All of them brainwash young girls and aim to marry them very young before they can realize they have other options. The arithmetic of polygamy means that more women are needed than men. So boys are dispensible and many are abandoned.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fantastic book!
This isn't a fanatical, sensationalized diatribe of the tired short creek series, or a book about polygamy and underaged girls. I took something away from this book, which was a better understanding of these communities and some of their beliefs.

The author was relatable and had an almost satirical writing style. I enjoyed his use of pop culture references during times of what I'm sure he felt readers felt major disconnect to the culture shock.

The author managed to write a book that wasn't totally biased to either side, however addressed his disbelief and the humor despite the intensity.

A fantastic read if your interested in diving into the world of polygamy and fundamentalist Mormonism in the USA. Though I had hoped he would have explored the polygamist group in Canada (BC), his book was otherwise top notch.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Done from a journalistic point of view, and you can see further in the book that he gets a little too involved with the subject. I was asking myself if referring to the pural wives he encountered in his book as "hot" was a breach of ethics, but reflexivity is important, I guess. As he was introduced to members of the community, and then refused access later in the book, he was approached by women to help them leave the community... I'll leave you to read what happens; just questionable ethics, all the way around. It was more an interesting struggle of his own interpretation of the subject than an actual honest rendering of this group.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing read about the various sects of the Mormon lifestyles. Sanjiv goes into detail about the creationism of Mormonism through their prophet Joseph Smith as was the splits between groups to form modern Mormonism, Foundamentalists, Centennial Park, The Order, and more. Through this journey, he also scraped up information on how ecah group views Polygamy. His research also leads him to a bit of self-discovery about what he believes. In my opinion, I felt that for an outsider, Sanjiv, did a lot of research and was fair in his interviews with insiders.

[Austin Archibald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really interesting read of a random atheist who wanted to explore all varieties of Mormon Fundamentalism. It's more sensationalist in nature, so the bad is highlighted and the good is mostly dismissed. His commentary throughout the book was both interesting and comical, but his condescending attitude was a bit distasteful at times. It reminded me of Krakauer's book in some ways: fascinating stories about Mormon fundamentalist sociopaths. We live in a crazy world, and this book gives us an entertaining prism into one of the crazier parts.

[Katya · Rating 5 out of 5]

While a book of this size and scope could have easily gotten bogged down in details and lost the reader's interest, this book never did. Each new face, each new story is presented with a freshness that kept me turning the pages. It's not an objective book- the author doesn't hide his own feelings about polygamy- but he leaves the majority of the book's space for the opinions and experiences of those he interviews. Polygamy is a polarizing subject and I think this is one of the more-calmly-and-rationally presented books out there on this topic.