Sara's review
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife by Irene Spencer
It was interesting to read this after reading Carolyn Jessup's Escape. Both memoirs are about the author's polygamous marriage with the "blessing" of FLDS, but they center on different aspects of it; whereas Escape spoke not only of the authors abusive marriage but also getting out of it and getting custody of her children through the court system, this book is more about the hardships endured by those in this polygamous society and the author's struggle with her belief system and her desire to get out of it.
Parts of Shattered Dreams were frustrating because of how indoctrinated and brainwashed the author was by the "prophets" in her FLDS sect. She'd grown up being told time and time again how polygamy is a mandate from God and that it never fails; only people fail to live it properly. Considering the struggle at the end of Escape, where Jessup deals with trying to get her kids away from all this brainwashing and not compl...more
Parts of Shattered Dreams were frustrating because of how indoctrinated and brainwashed the author was by the "prophets" in her FLDS sect. She'd grown up being told time and time again how polygamy is a mandate from God and that it never fails; only people fail to live it properly. Considering the struggle at the end of Escape, where Jessup deals with trying to get her kids away from all this brainwashing and not compl...more
