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The Lonely Polygamist
by Brady Udall
by Brady Udall
I’m always eager to read a book with local ties. As the title of BYU graduate Brady Udall’s most recent novel, The Lonely Polygamist, suggests, his critically acclaimed work most definitely has themes central to Utah history and culture.
I picked up this book wondering how successful Udall would be in making his central character, Golden Richards, a husband to four and father to twenty eight, who still manages time to develop an extra marital relationship, at all likeable. Udall succeeds admirably in creating Golden and his other characters. I came to like Golden, and pity him too, even while finding him immensely frustrating at times.
The story is told from three viewpoints, those of Golden, his fourth wife Trish, and one of his sons, eleven-year old Rusty. Trish is well-drawn and relatable, but it is Rusty who steals the show (and stole my heart). I challenge any reader to get through this book without tears and without wishing you could give Rusty a much-needed hug. Bottom line: Udall succeeds in making the sprawling Richards family and their many struggles (some of them tragic) seem familiar, even in their oddity.
This book could also be titled The Accidental Polygamist. Golden doesn't have your typical Mormon Fundamentalist background (he's originally from the south and has no Mormon pioneer heritage) and he just kinds of ends up a polygamist (read the book to find out how). We’ve all heard the sordid stories about polygamous groups (for example Warren Jeffs and crew), and even those of us (like me) with polygamy in our family history can find it all quite disturbing and foreign. While Udall’s story is full of trauma and tragedy, Golden and his clan don’t seem much akin to what we’ve seen in the news (even though Udall spent time among polygamous families while researching this book). I think this makes the story feel much more universal.
One final note, again for sensitive readers: There is a fair amount of obscene language throughout, although I personally would call this more of a PG-13 than an R-rated book.
I picked up this book wondering how successful Udall would be in making his central character, Golden Richards, a husband to four and father to twenty eight, who still manages time to develop an extra marital relationship, at all likeable. Udall succeeds admirably in creating Golden and his other characters. I came to like Golden, and pity him too, even while finding him immensely frustrating at times.
The story is told from three viewpoints, those of Golden, his fourth wife Trish, and one of his sons, eleven-year old Rusty. Trish is well-drawn and relatable, but it is Rusty who steals the show (and stole my heart). I challenge any reader to get through this book without tears and without wishing you could give Rusty a much-needed hug. Bottom line: Udall succeeds in making the sprawling Richards family and their many struggles (some of them tragic) seem familiar, even in their oddity.
This book could also be titled The Accidental Polygamist. Golden doesn't have your typical Mormon Fundamentalist background (he's originally from the south and has no Mormon pioneer heritage) and he just kinds of ends up a polygamist (read the book to find out how). We’ve all heard the sordid stories about polygamous groups (for example Warren Jeffs and crew), and even those of us (like me) with polygamy in our family history can find it all quite disturbing and foreign. While Udall’s story is full of trauma and tragedy, Golden and his clan don’t seem much akin to what we’ve seen in the news (even though Udall spent time among polygamous families while researching this book). I think this makes the story feel much more universal.
One final note, again for sensitive readers: There is a fair amount of obscene language throughout, although I personally would call this more of a PG-13 than an R-rated book.
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