Shattered Dreams: My Life As a Polygamist's Wife (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series) [Large Print]

By Irene Spencer

Book Overview

'Shattered Dreams' is Irene Spencer's true story of 28 tumultuous years in a 'plural marriage' in which she was one of ten wives. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1410404056
• ISBN13: 9781410404053
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Thorndike Press
• Length: 679 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 1.5" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

A look at the book as a link to other fundamentalist faiths

I agree with all prior comments. Irene Spencer's narrative flows as if she were a guest in your own parlor. She is factual without seeking self-pity. And as your jaw drops at some of her statements you find yourself wondering if in her situation..YOU could be so compassionate and forgiving! It's a refreshing read, atypical in lacking the seething, get- even anger of too many women's books.In this well balanced assessment of her life she extends love and understanding to most all caught up in world of Mormon fundamentalism. .I would add...I couldn't help but see a similarity between her experience and that of many "sisters" caught in , polygamous or not,other fanatical fundamentalist religions burgeoning today. They all have in common male domination through prohibition of higher education for females,enforced obedience through brainwashing techniques involving fear and guilt, and above all...the proverbial "barefoot and pregnant"...usually quite literally!! What I have come to realize, and this biography well dramatizes that fact,fanatical fundamentalism of WHATEVER persuasion always backfires because the very nature of its extreme rigidity becomes as constraining to the male as to the female he seeks to control! Kudoes to this tremendous woman for her survival with sanity in tact and I look forward to part two!!!

A page turner from start to finish...

I grew up in Utah as a non-Mormon. I had always believed that the fundamentalist Mormons were a sick, twisted cult that thrived on child molestation and sex. After reading Shattered Dreams, I see that many of these people were living a life of sacrifice for what they truly believe in. I do not believe in Pologamy or Mormonism 'fundalmentalist or otherwise', but I do understand their plight a great deal more. I have a mountain of respect for Irene and what she endured and sacrificed for 28 years of her life. I could not say that I could be as true to, and as passionate about my religious beliefs, to endure a life of poverty, disease, lonliness, neglect, depression, filth - the list goes on and on. I would have left that life LONG, LONG before Irene finally did!! Personally, I found the book very inspirational. When I think about the way that Irene and her children lived, and how other plural wives are living their lives today, my worries and problems seem almost trivial. This was a great read. Highly recommended!

Shattered Dreams: Truth More Riveting than Fiction

Irene Spencer, in her first book Shattered Dreams, speaks boldly from the heart of a woman oppressed by a patriarchal religious cult and powerfully bares her life of loneliness, longing and determination to overcome. Her story chronicles the severe pain of sharing a husband with nine other wives all vying for her husband's attention and affection. She lived in abject poverty in the Mexican desert, raising 13 of her husband's 58 children, often without running water or electricity. Shattered Dreams reads like a page-turner novel and finishes strong. I quickly found myself cheering for Irene as she overcame each obstacle and bravely chose to take control of her life.