The Polygamous Wives Writing Club: From the Diaries of Mormon Pioneer Women

Harline excerpts the diaries and autobiographies of 29 Mormon women in polygamous marriages to provide a glimpse into polygamy and early Mormonism. From its founding in the 1820s and through most of the 19th century, Mormons were encouraged to enter polygamous marriages for many reasons, including that it was essential to their salvation. During this period, about 30% of Mormons were in polygamous relationships, including women, men, and their children. While the diaries are interesting, Harline’s approach—not quite an academic treatise, but more than just a collection of primary sources—results in the book feeling shallow and dry. She provides basic information on the history of polygamous Mormon marriages and uses her sources to suggest that, overall, polygamy hurt women. The book is strongest in the images it evokes through anecdotes from the women themselves: the joy of dancing the night away with their husbands, the stress of living with a “sister wife” when neither liked the other, the sorrow of feeling their husbands preferred a new wife over them. Harline allows polygamy to not just exist in stereotypes, exoticism, or distortion; she gives it names and faces and real stories. (June)