What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I'd like to read a book with a polyandrous society.

Polyandry is when a wife has more than one husband, *not* polygamy which is the other way around.

Fiction please. I would like it to be either YA or adult. My only requirement is that it take place on Earth with human characters. Thank you in advance.

what YA ones have you read???

So the entire society has to be polyandrous? It can't just be a story about a wife with multiple husbands, living in a society where polyandry is taboo?

If either scenario is acceptable,
She Had It Coming.

Even in high school, Dolores and Floyd know they are soul mates. When one bad decision sends an innocent Floyd to prison for life, Dolores promises to stick by him. But while Floyd's life stands still, Dolores meets a successful businessman and marries him - continuing to visit Floyd, not telling him she's met someone else. When Floyd is freed on unexpected new evidence Dolores makes a fateful choice - to live a double life, devoting herself to two different husbands in two different cities...

For some earlier examples, from 1930 we have The Subway Murder by Madeleine Sharps Buchanan. From the 19th century, Between Love and Duty, or Two Men's Wife.

Hi Julia, I actually haven't read any! That's why I was wondering if there are even any books out there fitting the description. I think there are ones (adult, not teen books) with aliens, but not on Earth with human characters.

Hi Lobstergirl, actually, I was thinking of the entire society being polyandrous, or at least a society where it's acceptable to be polyandrous. Not like bigamy or polyamory or something that society considers taboo.

Are you firmly against fantasy novels for this? I think you might have better luck if you allowed non-Earth settings, since while polyandrous societies/cultures (rather than individual relationships) do happen in reality aren't all that common. I know I've read a couple fantasies with minor polyandry elements -though I'm having a hard time calling titles to mind- and one where it was a partial focus of the story -the heroine came from a culture much like ours, the hero from a matriarchal one where women have multiple husbands as a matter of course so it played a part in their relationship.

Hi Aerulan, I wouldn't mind if the novel had some fantasy elements, but I really want an Earth setting with human characters. I think there are probably a lot of sci fi stories where people from Earth encounter aliens with weird (to them) marriage and relationship habits. To me that's not as interesting as exploring it with humans on Earth.

Ok, well this one rides the line for what you are looking for, it's humans and human cultures -no aliens- but it's not set on Earth. It's set between two worlds one similar to France around the late 18th (?) century but with magics, and the other is a bit more primitive/pre-industrial. The pre-industrial society is polyandrous and matriarchal and pretty neat and you get to see a fair bit of it over the three books in the series. If you can't find anything else that will work for you you might give it a try. The series starts with The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells


ETA: there is a polyandry listopia, it's got a bunch of scifi romance/erotica but some contemporary stuff too, though the ones of them I've read weren't set in polyandrous societies just a relationship that fits the type.
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
If you haven't checked it out you might find a few worth reading.

Hum, you might check out The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress. It is human, but set on the Moon. And the culture there is definitely polyandrous, because there are more males than females on the moon--which is a giant penal colony--think Australia in the 19th century. Interesting book. . .

Try "Call Off The Search" by Natasja Hellenthal it is fantasy but deals with contemporary issues such as this between the comyenti species and humans. One woman has many lovers - male and female.

Love Letters: Leonard Woolf and Trekkie Ritchie Parsons might be exactly what you're looking for, Rainbowheart. I didn't read it, because though I'm interested in the subject matter, the setting & characters didn't appeal.

Hey, Aerulan, thanks! That is actually pretty close to what I am looking for, so I will give it a read. Ideally would prefer Earth but a kind of alt-Earth with (mild) magic would work.

Thanks Ann, yeah, the Moon is really pushing it for me! Don't really want outer space type stuff. Sounds like a cool story though.

Thanks Martine, but that one is *way* too sci fi for me. Sorry. But thanks for responding!

Hi Cheryl, thanks for the idea, but I'm really only interested in the society part of it. Not interested in polyamory or bigamy for its own sake, but for how the society is set up and how the society deals with it.

There are so many books with polygamous societies so I'm super interested in polyandrous ones. I know almost all will probably be alt-history, but I'm interested in exploring the theme at least with human characters on Earth.

I'm glad you're going to try Wizard Hunters, I hope you enjoy it! Wells is one of my favorite authors, she always writes really interesting cultures and worlds.

Rainbowheart, not quite the same thing (and not fiction), but you might find it interesting to look into Mosuo culture.

So, you want a polyandrous society that's not F/SF - yeah, that's going to be hard to find! Good luck - and if you find anything else, be sure to post back here and let us know, too. :)

Not sure if this is what you're looking for...Dixie Lynn Dwyer has a series where the town is mostly polyandrous. The Town of Pearl series; the first book is For the Love of Anna.
I believe her series The Sinful Seven of Delite Texas is contemporary also.

Colters' Woman (first in a series)

also this link:
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Thanks again Aerulan! I will report back once I've read Wizard Hunters.

Thanks Liralen. Hadn't heard of them before. Not exactly the same thing, but interesting.

Thanks Tala. I'm afraid that genre is kind of way outside my area of interest. I had no idea there was so much polyandrous erotica. Didn't know so many women were into it as a fantasy. But I'm really more interested in exploring it from the society perspective.

Thanks Kate. Someone recommended Colters' Woman to me once before but it seemed like it was only a single case of a woman having multiple boyfriends?

Whereas I'm looking for books about entire societies where women have multiple husbands. I hadn't thought about the dating thing, but I guess that would be interesting. But only if everyone in the society was doing it. And I'm not so much interested in reading erotica about it.

I'm kind of tempted to suggest Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre but I'm not sure it really fits, she's a scifi author -though her books are about humans- so in that respect it works, and the relationship in the book is polyandrous. I'm just not sure if it really qualifies, since in the setting it's not a widespread societal arrangement of one woman and multiple men, so much as being group marriage between multiple individuals of any sex.

I also have to admit that I only got a little ways into the book before losing my copy -I left it somewhere- and I haven't bought another to finish it yet. So I can't say for certain it would offer what you are looking for in terms of an exploration of polyandry in a cultural setting. So it may or may not have enough of what you are looking for to be worth trying, but Mcintyre is a pretty good author, so could be worth a shot.

Hum, on the sci-fi thing where it's multiples of either sex (some are polyandrous, other polygamus) you could try the oldie but goodie Babel-17

Thanks Aerulan. I think Starfarers would be too sci fi for me, but it sounds pretty intereting.

Thanks Ann. Yeah, sci fi seems to be a really prevalent genre for exploration of these themes. Babel-17 isn't for me, but other people might be interested in it.

So this is probably not what you asked for, but the way you where interested in the society and how they would deal with it, makes me think it might fit anyway. I'm thinking of Anne Bishop and her black jewels stories. It's not really polyandrous as they aren't married but it is normal for women to have a lot of lovers. The power is definitely matriarchal both politically and well.. magically. So again fantasy, not erotica though not child-safe eighter and not contemporary or even set in our world, but the politics and intrigues and the whole structural set-up fit I guess..

Thanks Sidsel. That does actually sound close to what I'm trying to find. I'll go ahead and add Daughter of the Blood to my shelf.

The Gate to Women's Country is set on a future earth. Herland is set in a remote valley discovered by explorers.

i know you dont want aliens but there is a fantasy series with faeries were polyamorous relationships are pretty common and the main character has quite a few lovers. The series is called the merry gentry series and its by the same author as the anita blake series, laurell k hamilton. It's a pretty short series only 8 or 9 books and the last one comes out next month. i love them but fair warning they can get pretty dark. oh and as an interesting aside the author herself is polyamorous

Merry Gentry series for the click :)

Jessica wrote: "...as an interesting aside the author herself is polyamorous..."

Interesting, how do you know this?

NP. I think its actually on her site or blog or something. i was trying to find out when the next in the series was coming out and stumbled across that. not surprising since its so rampant in both her series. if i remember correctly she and her husband also have a girlfriend....though i wouldnt quote me because i read this quite awhile ago. normally im not a huge fan of polyamory in my books but she totally makes it work. its also fascinating to me how shes totally not afraid to go dark. like faerie is usually a happy lovely world but not hers! lol. if you end up reading them id love to hear your thoughts :)

I read Vonda McIntyre in Lythande "Looking for Satan", it quite amused me you had a partnership (marriage?) between males and females and I think that it impressed me so much I wanted to look into more of her work.

Oh, and about LKH's girlfriend on Facebook :

https://www.facebook.com/LaurellKHami...

Young Adult: The Academy (Ghost Bird) Series by CL Stone....7 boys and 1 girl...

I don't know about a "society". However the Shadowndance Club series by Avery Gale has a lot of polyandry going in in the same area. Definitely adult books.

Mary, polyandry in YA? That sounds interesting! All of the boys are dating the girl simultaneously, and not in succession?

Thanks Cynthia! That sounds more like the erotica type with threesomes? Not necessarily polyandry where the woman is just happening to date more than one man at the same time.

Rainbowheart wrote: "Mary, polyandry in YA? That sounds interesting! All of the boys are dating the girl simultaneously, and not in succession?"

Yes. If you read the author's spoilers on where she's going with the series, that's what she intends. Right now it's very YA/PG-13....but she's headed into steamier territory with every book and from what I've heard intends to keep the sequels coming for a long time and eventually it will be a full reverse harem.

http://www.clstonebooks.com/the-acade...

Mary, thanks for info. That does sound really unique!

Possibly also Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes.

Thanks everyone! More recs are always appreciated.

The Heart of Falcon Ridge is about 3 brothers that share one wife. They also had three fathers. It's frowned upon by some in their community, but it's a normal thing for their family.
Their Kidnapped Bride is the first book in an historical romance series where a bunch of men who fought in a war together have the same mindset of sharing wives. They pair off in 2s and 3s with one woman and is the norm for them.
I enjoyed the first book I mentioned. The 2nd one was okay, but the writing style was pretty rough. Both are definitely considered erotica, though, just to want you.

There's some in Hawaii.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes Lizzie marries twin brothers.

An Excess Male perhaps, if you're still looking? It's a sort of near-future dystopian novel, but actually quite a realistic premise.