Exposé of Polygamy: A Lady's Life Among the Mormons

by Fanny Stenhouse, Linda DeSimone (Editor)

After the 1872 publication of Expose',Fanny Stenhouse became a celebrity in the cultural wars between Mormons and much of America. An English convert, she had grown disillusioned with the Mormon Church and polygamy, which her husband practiced before associating with a circle of dissident Utah intellectuals and merchants. Stenhouse’s critique of plural marriage, Brigham Young, and Mormonism was also a sympathetic look at Utah’s people and honest recounting of her life. Before long, she created a new edition, titled "Tell It All," which ensured her notoriety in Utah and popularity elsewhere but turned her thoughtful memoir into a more polemical, true expose' of Polygamy. Since 1874, it has stayed in print, in multiple, varying editions. The original book, meanwhile, is less known, though more readable. Tracing the literary history of Stenhouse’s important piece of Americana, Linda DeSimone rescues an important autobiographical and historical record from the baggage notoriety brought to it.

Genres: Cult Classics, Ebooks, Mormonism

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 1993

About the author

Stenhouse, Fanny, "Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse," 1829- [from old catalog]
from Library of Congress website

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really is an excellent read not only to get a contemporary and heart-rending view of what it was like to be a missionary couple in Switzerland, but also what it was like for Fanny, hearing rumours, then having a more sure knowledge of the practice of polygamy within Mormonism and finally the call to engage in it as a family.

There are some troubling factors. Fanny didn't always know just who her husband Thomas was choosing to court, older men marrying much, much younger girls, the family leaving and being accosted by a group of 'Danites' and the theocratic and dictatorial nature of the Brighamite Church.

This is well worth a read, particularly for the British Saints but for anyone interested in Faith, loss of faith, historical perspectives of Mormonism from an 'insider' and later an 'outsider'.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

An often heartbreaking report of what it was like for women who had joined Mormonism before discovering that polygamy was part of the deal -- in Fanny's case, before polygamy was part of the deal, at least officially.

Notable for its balanced presentation. Fanny does not demonize the Mormons, even as she recognized the agony she suffered while trying to obey their unjust and impossible rules. She also offers a brilliant discussion on how depression feels, written in a day when depression wasn't recognized as an actual condition, and is smart enough to recognize the difference between jealousy and betrayal, even as she was forbidden to call what was happening any such thing.

This is Fanny's first book, also called A Lady's Life Among the Mormons, which she refers to in her second book as "a pamphlet." She also wrote a longer, second version, variously called, The tyranny of Mormonism; or, an Englishwoman in Utah and Tell it all : a woman's life in polygamy. The editions of the second version of her autobiography that include her Preface offer a real treat in that she takes a paragraph about her from a book and points out all the inaccuracies in it as an example of how Mormonism, as well as former Mormons, were misrepresented at the time.

It's my belief some modern-day commenters are no more accurate, but Stenhouse strikes me in this book as beautifully balanced. She recognizes her own irrational emotional responses, but is not ruled by them, which is an unusual quality in writers dealing with such hot topics. I am pleased to have met her.

[Swhite · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfortunately, for my peace of mind, this was an important read. Fortunately, for my curious mind, it is a contemporary- as it was written in 1872- memoir of a once faithful Latter-Day Saint convert who thoughtfully writes on the disconnect between her conversion and her and her husband’s experience serving and sacrificing under Brigham Young’s leadership. This edition is edited by Linda Wilcox DeSimone and has interesting notes on the various editions that came out and how the memoir responded to later historical and contemporaneous happenings such as the Mountain Meadows massacre and the Morrisites. I was reading in light of recent discussions on polygamy’s origins and a search on my library’s Libby app catalogue. I like going to original, contemporary sources and I’ve been curious to what other women of the time thought, felt & experienced.

[Jessica Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very honest and insightful account of Fanny Stenhouse's experience with polygamy. She's such a powerful and engaging writer, so it was easy to binge-read this. This gave me so much to think about - I'm sure I'll be reflecting on it for a long time. Since polygamy is an uncomfortable topic that tends to be avoided in the LDS church, reading Fanny's account was both refreshing and extremely heavy. I'm grateful for her candor, but I also feel like I need to lie down.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though the subject matter is difficult, it really helped that Fanny wrote with tongue-in-cheek humor and a heaping helping of sarcasm. While not everything in her book can be verified, most of it can be corroborated. What's more, her emotional honesty makes the experiences feel universal.

[Britni Higgins · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important read for any LDS feminist, man or woman. Fanny Stenhouse writes with a dry, sarcastic wit about the suffering she and many others endured due to the practice of polygamy in the 1800’s.

[R-mig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe Mormonism still exists. As if nobody has heard about their history...