Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage [Hardcover]

Mary Batchelor (Author), Marianne Watson (Author), Anne Wilde (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2000

This book is a unique collection of original essays written by 95 contemporary plural wives and 5 other women who are supportive of plural marriage. Also included is a chapter presenting historical, legal and doctrinal overviews of Latter-day Saint plural marriage, as well as a chapter on why women choose this religious lifestyle. The last chapter records and analyzes the results of a two-page questionnaire completed by plural wives who contributed to this book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Theirs are the missing voices that speak with authenticity, poignancy, and sense of religious mission." -- Martha Sonntag Bradley, The Journal of Mormon History, Spring 2002

"This book could be a stepping stone for a political movement by Utah's 30,000 living in polygamous households." -- Greg Burton, Salt Lake Tribune, 12/11/2000, p. B-1

. . . a book without parallel for those studying modern American family life. * * * plural wives as diverse, devout, intelligent, interesting women. -- Michael Quinn, endorsement for Voices in Harmony

About the Author

All three authors are descendants of pioneer Mormon polygamists and are firm believers in the contemporary doctrine and practice of plural marriage as a Biblical, sacred, and eternal principle.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 249 pages
• Publisher: Cedar Fort; First Edition edition (December 1, 2000)
• ISBN-10: 155517499X
• ISBN-13: 978-1555174996
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,897,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some thoughts after reading an unusual & interesting book, September 8, 2005

By 

A reader in England - See all my reviews

This review is from: Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage (Hardcover)

Voices in Harmony is a book which looks at Mormon plural marriage from the point of view of the women involved. It is very beautifully written and insightful. At times it is very moving, for example when terrifying episodes of persecution (of polygamists) are described. Yet they remain a very spiritual, very religious people, and that undoubtedly is a strength for them in this unusual domestic arrangement.

A curious fact garnered from it: the women of Utah were amoung the first in the world to be granted the vote. Washington DC granted them the vote in 1870, in the hope that they would vote for the anti-polygamy candidate. Unfortunately, the polygamous Utah wives were happy with their lot, for they voted for the Mormon candidate. Just 17 years later, in 1887, Washington evidently came to the conclusion that the women of Utah could not be trusted to vote for the "correct" candidate, and so they were disenfranchised. This happened as part of the infamous Edmunds-Tucker Act.

It also occurs to me that there is a fratricidal element in this: in 1890 the LDS Church publicly retracted its support for plural marriage, in return for more respectful treatment from Washington; and nowadays, these "monogamy-only" Mormons appear to dominate state institutions in Utah--the recent Tom Green case (covered briefly in this book) being an example.

I wonder, had this polygamous community been, say, moslem, or jewish, or hindu--or even patriarchal pagan--and not Mormon, wether people would want to bother them. Perhaps it would not make any difference, even so: I recall reading on the Niqabi Paralegal site, that the Native American tribes were pressured by Washington into making polygamy illegal in their tribal law, in exchange for more respectful treatment. Some tribes conceded. Others did not.

But back to Voices in Harmony. Another curious historical fact: President Buchanan at one point sent an army to Utah, to finish off polygamy once and for all. But the army did not fire a shot, and had to be recalled, when the Civil War broke out."Buchanan's Folly" it was called.

This is curioser than it seems: I recall reading, in Schott's Miscellany, that Buchanan was a bachelor president. A bachelor president declaring war on polygamous Mormons! Interesting.

Voices in Harmony is absorbing reading, and thought-provoking. The middle section, in which 100 plural wives speak in their own words, is especially interesting. It occurred to me that even monogamous people, who want to learn the secret(s) of happy marriage and family life, could learn from this.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Illegal lifestyle, October 23, 2011

By 

J. Goss - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage (Hardcover)

This is a book that simply tries to glorify an illegal lifestyle. I read it a while back and it made me want to scream that women can be so stupid as to think that they only way they can get to heaven is by a man. The only way you can get to heaven is through Jesus Christ, not some man who has 40 wives.

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb.

10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book about real women living real life, May 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Voices in Harmony: Contemporary Women Celebrate Plural Marriage (Hardcover)

Finally, there is a book that tells of the faith, hope, courage and determination of women that live to fulfill what they want to have in their lives. You won't find any of the ridiculous sensational garbage that you read in the news. This book is about down to earth women like you and me. Women that have endured great hardship to live their religion. An excellent book for anyone wanting to know what the truth is behind the headlines and scare tatics of the news. This is truly a heartwarming journey through the lives of women from different groups and ages. Women who have dedicated their lives to living the principles they espouse.