Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 7, No. 3, 2008, Page 57
that patients might defend against through action and that might elicit strong emotions in
ourselves.
Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife
Irene Spencer, Hatchett Book Groups/Center Street, New York, 2007. ISBN-13:
9781599957197 (hardcover). $24.99. 400 pages.
Escape
Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer, Broadway Books, New York, 2007. ISBN-10:
0767927575 ISBN-13: 978-0767927574 (paperback). $14.95 ($10.17
Amazon.com). 448 pages.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming
a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer. HarperCollins (William Morrow Imprint), New York,
2008. ISBN-10: 0061628018 ISBN-13: 978-0739496343 (hardcover). $25.95
($17.13, Amazon.com). 448 pages.
Books by Elissa Wall and Carolyn Jessop, born and raised in the polygamous Fundamentalist
Latter Day Saints (FLDS), tell gripping though very different tales of their lives, first as
children, then as unwilling wives in the isolated, tightly controlled sect, who eventually
managed to leave. Irene Spencer, a generation older, describes life in the polygamous
Colonia LeBaron group, a less-tightly-controlled polygamous community. Her involvement
was entirely voluntary, and the pains and hardships she experienced seem almost inevitable
concomitants of a polygamous relationship.
Irene, author of Shattered Dreams, was born in 1937, the 4th of 6 children born to her
mother and the 13th of 31 children of her father, a fireman in the Salt Lake City area. Irene
was early indoctrinated into the practice of polygamy with its promise of future glory for
those who hold fast to ―The Principle,‖ as it is called. She early learned that asking
questions showed ―disrespect‖ and ―lack of faith,‖ and also that her family‘s adherence to
The Principle was a secret. It was a secret difficult for a child to keep, as shown by her
amusing tale of three 5-year-olds marching together into public kindergarten and explaining
to the teacher that, although they all had the same last name, the same address, and the
same father, they were not triplets and had different birthdays and different mothers.
Irene‘s childhood was marked by poverty. Her father, struggling to support his large family
on a fireman‘s income, developed a severe drinking problem and when Irene was 5 years
old, her mother left, taking her children with her. Years of living on welfare ensued. When
Irene was 12, her mother embarked on a homesteading venture and shortly thereafter
married again, an abusive monogamist whom Irene disliked. She coped with the situation in
part by long visits to her Aunt Rhea, her mother‘s half-sister and her father‘s first wife. Aunt
Rhea had also left her husband but remained a committed polygamist. She lived in
Hurricane, Utah, a small town not far from the FLDS center, then known as Short Creek
(now Hildale-Colorado City). Aunt Rhea often took the family to Short Creek, where young
Irene experienced the liberating feeling of being among her own kind, no longer having to
conceal her core beliefs.
Among the teenaged girls in Short Creek, marriage was a hot topic. Girls were selected for
marriage by men who received word from God that a particular girl was to be ―sealed‖ to
him. This caused confusion about some of the more attractive girls, as several different men
might get the same word from God about the same girl. This eventually led to the Prophet‘s
decision that only marriages revealed by God to him were acceptable.
that patients might defend against through action and that might elicit strong emotions in
ourselves.
Lorna Goldberg, M.S.W., L.C.S.W.
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife
Irene Spencer, Hatchett Book Groups/Center Street, New York, 2007. ISBN-13:
9781599957197 (hardcover). $24.99. 400 pages.
Escape
Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer, Broadway Books, New York, 2007. ISBN-10:
0767927575 ISBN-13: 978-0767927574 (paperback). $14.95 ($10.17
Amazon.com). 448 pages.
Stolen Innocence: My Story of Growing Up in a Polygamous Sect, Becoming
a Teenage Bride, and Breaking Free of Warren Jeffs
Elissa Wall with Lisa Pulitzer. HarperCollins (William Morrow Imprint), New York,
2008. ISBN-10: 0061628018 ISBN-13: 978-0739496343 (hardcover). $25.95
($17.13, Amazon.com). 448 pages.
Books by Elissa Wall and Carolyn Jessop, born and raised in the polygamous Fundamentalist
Latter Day Saints (FLDS), tell gripping though very different tales of their lives, first as
children, then as unwilling wives in the isolated, tightly controlled sect, who eventually
managed to leave. Irene Spencer, a generation older, describes life in the polygamous
Colonia LeBaron group, a less-tightly-controlled polygamous community. Her involvement
was entirely voluntary, and the pains and hardships she experienced seem almost inevitable
concomitants of a polygamous relationship.
Irene, author of Shattered Dreams, was born in 1937, the 4th of 6 children born to her
mother and the 13th of 31 children of her father, a fireman in the Salt Lake City area. Irene
was early indoctrinated into the practice of polygamy with its promise of future glory for
those who hold fast to ―The Principle,‖ as it is called. She early learned that asking
questions showed ―disrespect‖ and ―lack of faith,‖ and also that her family‘s adherence to
The Principle was a secret. It was a secret difficult for a child to keep, as shown by her
amusing tale of three 5-year-olds marching together into public kindergarten and explaining
to the teacher that, although they all had the same last name, the same address, and the
same father, they were not triplets and had different birthdays and different mothers.
Irene‘s childhood was marked by poverty. Her father, struggling to support his large family
on a fireman‘s income, developed a severe drinking problem and when Irene was 5 years
old, her mother left, taking her children with her. Years of living on welfare ensued. When
Irene was 12, her mother embarked on a homesteading venture and shortly thereafter
married again, an abusive monogamist whom Irene disliked. She coped with the situation in
part by long visits to her Aunt Rhea, her mother‘s half-sister and her father‘s first wife. Aunt
Rhea had also left her husband but remained a committed polygamist. She lived in
Hurricane, Utah, a small town not far from the FLDS center, then known as Short Creek
(now Hildale-Colorado City). Aunt Rhea often took the family to Short Creek, where young
Irene experienced the liberating feeling of being among her own kind, no longer having to
conceal her core beliefs.
Among the teenaged girls in Short Creek, marriage was a hot topic. Girls were selected for
marriage by men who received word from God that a particular girl was to be ―sealed‖ to
him. This caused confusion about some of the more attractive girls, as several different men
might get the same word from God about the same girl. This eventually led to the Prophet‘s
decision that only marriages revealed by God to him were acceptable.
