Mormons today have little idea about their founder's family life. Many do not know that Joseph Smith was a practicing polygamist with thirty-three ...
read full description
reviews
Feb 01, 2012
This is a book that I have been looking forward to reading. Polygamy is an interesting subject to study, and since Joseph Smith's polygamy has not been widely discussed I have wanted to study his in particular. There are plenty of books written on the prophet Joseph Smith, but I wanted one that was fair and based on well researched truths. This book was sold at Deseret Books up until about last year, and it's author is LDS.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 13, 2010
Lori
rated it: 
This book is about the life history of Joseph Smith's plural wives and their journals.
It is a very long book and details each of his 33 mortal wives, from their birth to their death. In church we only hear about Emma, but these women made AMAZING sacrifices for the church and are often overlooked. This book is a tribute to them. You will also learn the history of Celestial marriage by reading this book.
This is the best book for learning about Joseph Smith's wives fr More...
4 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 16, 2008
Brett
rated it:
What a powerful read. I loved this book. The history of Joseph Smith as told by his wives and their journalized views. You will have a solid foundation of the early Mormon church and its charismatic leader, Joseph Smith, after reading this book. Todd Compton could not be criticized for his accurate sources from the time, from Joseph Smith's many wives, because he tells all sides and points out any questionable material but the over all story is compelling. A must read for anyone who wants t
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Oct 02, 2009
Dave
rated it:
It is a documented fact that Joseph Smith enjoyed a total of 33 wives, including his first wife, Emma. What is generally overlooked are the details about each wife's life - their backgrounds, private journals, and legacy. This book is not critical of JS or his teachings. Rather, each chapter is devoted to each woman to whom he was married, with as much historical information as is available. The book essentially lets the women tell their side of the story.
Of particular interest to me More...
Of particular interest to me More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 06, 2008
Barry
rated it:
This is a great book. Todd Compton, an active Mormon, chronicles the lives of 33 polygamous wives of Joseph Smith, largely through their own words in thier journals and letters. If you have an interest in expanding your knowledge of early Mormon history and understanding what the 'new and everlasting covenant' was like for these often overlooked women, you need to get this book. It is the best book out there dealing with the origins of polygamy in the church.
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Oct 21, 2008
Melanie
rated it: 
This is an exhaustive compendium of the biographies and stories of the wives of Joseph Smith. It's quite good and I enjoyed learning about their lives. Compton tells it like it is, which I appreciate, as well as appreciating the time and scholarship involved in creating such a book. As far as I can tell, this book is known among serious LDS scholars as being an accurate and respectable source regarding this aspect of Mormon history.
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Nov 22, 2009
Christine
rated it: 
I liked this book for two reasons: the first was that it was a very well documented historical account. As a genealogist, I was impressed with the amount of documentation that was in this book. Second, as someone who is not a member of the LDS church, I found the descriptions of plural marriage and the doctrines from the beginning of the church's history to be informative.
Because of my research project on an early Utah Pioneer family, I found the development of the LDS religion to More...
Because of my research project on an early Utah Pioneer family, I found the development of the LDS religion to More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 13, 2008
George
rated it:
You think that Texas Polygamist Cult is way out? The author documents a grand total of 33 wives for the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, of which 33% were 14 to 22 years old when they married him! Just read about how Joe Smith convinced husbands to give their wives to him "for eternity" as a test of their faith! Contains charts.
May 30, 2011
Amber
rated it:
Don't read this book if you want to keep your blinders on. It presents many questions and obstacles for the LDS Church.
The author presents the information in the form of Biographies of these women that are fairly well documented as having been the plural wives of Joseph Smith. He doesn't try to sway the reader to a positive or negative view of the events, he just presents them as historically documented in diaries and letters. If there are two different accounts of an event the author More...
The author presents the information in the form of Biographies of these women that are fairly well documented as having been the plural wives of Joseph Smith. He doesn't try to sway the reader to a positive or negative view of the events, he just presents them as historically documented in diaries and letters. If there are two different accounts of an event the author More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 16, 2008
Brian
rated it:
Todd Compton is an absolute freak of nature when it comes to researching and compiling. He digs through countless libraries over the nation to find any scrap of information that might shed more light on the wives (his count is 33) of Joseph Smith and their lives. Phenomenally informative.
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Aug 17, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
After years of ignoring the history of polygamy in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I decided to learn about it. The more I learn, the more abhorrent I find it. As a friend of mine described it: "spiritual blackmail". Reading this book, discovering the details of the lives of the wives of Joseph Smith, the most apt descriptive word I can think of: nauseating.
The women were instructed that being a "spiritual wife" would bring themselves and their fam More...
The women were instructed that being a "spiritual wife" would bring themselves and their fam More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 24, 2010
Hollyparsonnielsen333
rated it:
Ohh, what to say about this book?! First, I suggest this book to anyone who is interested in American and Religious history. This book is about the 33 additional wives of Joseph Smith. The majority of this book is actual letters and journal entries from the women themselves. To some people who are LDS, polygamy is seen as taboo. I found it helpful to read about actual people who were involved, and to find out the "good times and bad times" of these women.
FARMS ripped into th More...
FARMS ripped into th More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 31, 2010
Leanne
rated it:
Very even treatment of polygamy, using primary sources.
After sweeping aside such melodramatic propaganda, one finds that in actuality Mormon polygamists, both female and male, were generally sincere, intensely religious, often intelligent and able, and men and women of goodwill. Nevertheless, my central thesis is that Mormon polygamy was characterized by a tragic ambiguity." p. xiii
"It is useless to judge 19th century Mormons by late 20th century More...
After sweeping aside such melodramatic propaganda, one finds that in actuality Mormon polygamists, both female and male, were generally sincere, intensely religious, often intelligent and able, and men and women of goodwill. Nevertheless, my central thesis is that Mormon polygamy was characterized by a tragic ambiguity." p. xiii
"It is useless to judge 19th century Mormons by late 20th century More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 22, 2011
Rich
rated it:
Some of Joseph Smith's wives were truly amazing. It is ironic that what while I consider polygamy to be a throw back to Old Testament times, in some cases it allowed women to be more "liberated" than their monogamist sisters. As a husband to over 30 women, Joseph could not be very close to many of his wives, allowing them to create their own lives and careers almost on their own. The help of their sister wives make this possible. In Sacred Loneliness is a long, but interesting read for
More...
Aug 13, 2009
Jake
rated it:
Mormons currently trumpeting “traditional marriage” should shut their mouths and read this book. In American history, “traditional marriage” has been defied most boldly and prolifically by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young.
Okay, now that I have that off my chest, I’ll praise this book. This book, in its early chapters, offers a very informative perspective on the rationales and motivations of 19th Century Mormons who practiced polygamy. The practice’s historical context and theological More...
Okay, now that I have that off my chest, I’ll praise this book. This book, in its early chapters, offers a very informative perspective on the rationales and motivations of 19th Century Mormons who practiced polygamy. The practice’s historical context and theological More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 17, 2008
M.
rated it:
I am not sure where to begin on this book but I gave it five stars for content, not for the feelings in invoked.
As a Mormon convert, I always understood polygamy to be a benevolent system of taking care of widows and older unmarried women. Although I came to realize that this was not the case, nothing could have prepared me for the bomb this book dropped on my soul. I was astonished to learn the details of polygamy, including the ways the women were initiated into the "Holy Or More...
As a Mormon convert, I always understood polygamy to be a benevolent system of taking care of widows and older unmarried women. Although I came to realize that this was not the case, nothing could have prepared me for the bomb this book dropped on my soul. I was astonished to learn the details of polygamy, including the ways the women were initiated into the "Holy Or More...
Jun 29, 2008
Teenagers as young as fourteen marrrying a thirty something year old prophet in order to be gain salvation? Women already married to other men doing the same while continuing to live with their Christian 'first husbands'? Is this Doctrine in the Bible, Book of Mormon or any of the standard works?
Comptom used hundreds of Diary entries, Personal Journals and letters written by many different individuals to write this book. Thus much of the book is told by the individuals that were ther More...
Comptom used hundreds of Diary entries, Personal Journals and letters written by many different individuals to write this book. Thus much of the book is told by the individuals that were ther More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 29, 2009
Jacob
rated it:
This book gets quite dry in places because the author tries to tell us everything there is to know about the wives of Joseph Smith and for many of them there is not much interesting to know. That said, it is quite moving to know about the lives of these women, many of whom have received no attention in other Mormon history. If you are interested in early Mormon polygamy this is required reading.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 29, 2011
Christine
rated it: 
Todd Compton is to be commended for his research of these 33 women, who lived in a period where women's lives were not particularly well documented; however, the storytelling aspect of this book is underwhelming and can be even tedious at times.
Perhaps the controversy that surrounds this book is from the general LDS population at large, some of whom were not told or taught that Joseph Smith had plural wives "in deed", but for a non-LDS reader such as myself, this book is not much More...
Perhaps the controversy that surrounds this book is from the general LDS population at large, some of whom were not told or taught that Joseph Smith had plural wives "in deed", but for a non-LDS reader such as myself, this book is not much More...
Jun 23, 2009
Chris
rated it:
A must-read if you are a serious mormon history student. Compton's research/references are clean, and his method of outlining the wives as well as his sensitivity to the information he is presenting makes for a fantastic read.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jun 26, 2009
I haven't read this yet, but have heard it was good. would love to hear from anyone who has read it- fascinating? Uplifting, or belittling? Leave you interested and understanding, or with a bad taste in your mouth?
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 24, 2010
Jenifer
rated it:
The real 'golden nugget' of this book is tale of thirty-one 19th century women, their stories, their journals and their life-struggles both inside and outside of Polygamy & Polyandry. Diverse, revealing and sympathetic, these real life tales of women show faith, strength and sorrow in some of life's most difficult circumstances. Using well-documented records and journal accounts, the author chronicles many little-known and some well-known female figures of Mormon history.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
May 25, 2010
Marilyn
rated it:
Joseph Smith lived in a complicated time as far as religion was concerned. I tried to stay with the book as the author explained about Joseph's plural wives. As I read the stories I became confused as to what was truth, hearsay, or the author's view. It was interesting to skim over and catch the jest of the times, but not worth the time of reading each page.
Jan 05, 2009
Staceylau
rated it:
Written by a current member of the LDS church, meticulously researched.
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 06, 2012
Hillary
rated it:
It is very dry and academic but...
This book changed me.
I wish every LDS person would read this and consider the people who get swept under the rug to keep Joseph Smith on his pedestal. They are shadowy figures easily forgotten for the sake of a polished, shiny story that helps us sleep at night. Thank goodness Todd Compton has taken the time and consideration to write this book so their existence and their stories would be accessible to whomever cared to look. Becaus More...
This book changed me.
I wish every LDS person would read this and consider the people who get swept under the rug to keep Joseph Smith on his pedestal. They are shadowy figures easily forgotten for the sake of a polished, shiny story that helps us sleep at night. Thank goodness Todd Compton has taken the time and consideration to write this book so their existence and their stories would be accessible to whomever cared to look. Becaus More...
Jan 27, 2012
Stacey
rated it:
Jan 08, 2012
Tara
rated it:
I didn't get a chance to finish this one.. It is overdue at the library so I need to return it! But what I did get through was interesting. We don't learn very much about Joseph's other wives so it was definitely interesting to see who they were and how they lived and came to marry Joseph. Some of them were already married to other men which I found quite interesting as well. The LDS church has such a complex history! Hopefully I can order it so I can finish reading about these brave women.
More...
Jan 28, 2009
Bill
rated it:
I'm about half way through and I really like this book. The reason I like this book is because it tells the life stories of the women in church history. We hear all the time about Joseph Smith and the other leaders but you don't hear very often about the women who were leaders in the church like Eliza R. Snow who was the 2nd President of the relief society.
It was written very unbiased in my opinion and shares views from both members and non members alike.
It was written very unbiased in my opinion and shares views from both members and non members alike.
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 16, 2009
Jlhammer63
rated it:
heartwrenching but very educational.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
