Honor and Polygamy
Heartbreaking and timely novel by Afghan-American author follows one man’s journey from New York to the clutches of the Taliban and into an unintentional polygamist union. “He is picking up the same bags with the same clothes Lisa packed and folded a year ago. He wishes he were like his clothes, untouched by external forces.” Family man Nick Blake is living in New York City and working for the United Nations. Born and raised in the United States with broad knowledge of the Afghan culture, he is living the All-American life with his wife, Lisa, and their children. His life is turned upside down when, while on a diplomatic mission to Afghanistan, Nick is kidnapped and finds himself in the clutches of the Taliban. Omar Farhad’s debut novel Honor and Polygamy follows Nick throughout his eighteen months in Afghanistan and the devastating and unexpected turns his life takes, as he learns the true meanings of home, history and culture. After being held captive for several months, Nick is forced to marry the sixteen-year-old Shaista. Although he cannot forget his beloved wife and children back home, he finds himself falling in love with his second wife and, overwhelmed with guilt, is torn between his old life and his new one. Honor and Polygamy is far from simply a captivating fiction story, but is also a brilliant commentary on the United States’ situation with Afghanistan. Farhad expresses his views on both the political and the cultural sides of Afghanistan. Politically, he is predicting how he feels the war will ultimately end, while culturally, he shows readers not familiar with Afghanistan that the 35-year-old war has created a population, which is uneducated, disloyal, and without identity. The United States and many other nations have continuously disrupted Afghanistan with no clear political objectives, and, in his novel, Farhad explores the consequences of these actions. The story of Nick Blake represents the reality of the Afghan culture and the results and disappointments of the political realities in Afghanistan, and shows readers just how unaware we all are of other cultures. Written by an author who has lived both the American and Afghan ways of life, Honor and Polygamy is a harrowing, haunting and deeply moving tale for our times.
Mormon Polygamy
An informative outline of the secret origins of Mormon polygamy, the peculiarities of the early practice, "unofficial" polygamous marriages at the turn-of-the-century and present-day fundamentalist Mormon groups which still practice polygamy.
Joseph Smith's Polygamy
In the last several years a wealth of information has been published on Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy. For some who were already well aware of this aspect of early Mormon history, the availability of new research and discovered documents has been a wellspring of further insight and knowledge into this topic. For others who are learning of Joseph's marriages to other women for the first time, these books and online publications can be both an information overload and a challenge to one's faith. In this short volume, Brian C. Hales (author of the 3-volume Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology) and Laura H. Hales wade through the murky waters of history to help bring some clarity to this episode of Mormonism's past. As Joseph Smith's participation in plural marriage involved more than just the Prophet and his first wife Emma, this volume also includes short biographical sketches of the 35 other women who were sealed to Joseph but whose stories of faith, struggle, and courage have been largely forgotten and ignored over time. While we may never fully understand the details and reasons surrounding this practice, Brian and Laura Hales provide readers with an accessible, forthright, and faithful look into this challenging topic so that we can at least come toward a better understanding. Praise for Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding "Few matters of LDS history have proven to be as faith-sensitive as Joseph Smith's plural marriages. While a number of efforts have been made in recent years to shed light on this challenging phenomenon, nothing has brought greater clarity, enlightenment, and, particularly for believing Saints, spiritual reassurance, than has the work of researcher Brian Hales. He and his wife Laura have now rendered a monumental service to Mormons and interested observers by bringing clarity and better understanding to this topic. I for one am grateful for the context, perspective, and both straightforward and faithful answers provided for so many of the questions surrounding Nauvoo polygamy. It is a book that will be read and discussed for years to come." - Robert L. Millet, Professor Emeritus of Religious Education, Brigham Young University
The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men
"Polygamy?" says the mainstream Mormon Church. "We gave that up long ago." Not so, claims noted LDS poet and author Carol Lynn Pearson, who examines the issue as it has never been examined before. Any member of the LDS Church today who enters the practice of polygamy is immediately excommunicated. However, Pearson claims, polygamy itself has never been excommunicated, but has an honored and protected place at the table. It has only been postponed, a fact confirmed by thousands of "eternal sealings" giving a man an assurance that he will claim as wives in heaven the two, three, or even more women he has sequentially married during his lifetime. No such opportunity is available to women. Through her own personal stories, those of her ancestors, and the thousands of stories that came to her through an Internet survey, Pearson shows the power of the Ghost of Eternal Polygamy as it not only waits on the other side to greet the most righteous in heaven, but also haunts the living-hiding in the recesses of the Mormon psyche, inflicting profound pain and fear, assuring women that they are still objects, harming or destroying marriages, bringing chaos to family relationships, leading many to lose faith in the church and in God. Mormon historian and author Dr. Gregory Prince says of The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: "Carol Lynn Pearson has hit a home run in her quest to illuminate both the damage that Mormonism's de facto practice of polygamy continues to inflict, and the route to a better, more humane place. Those who truly hope for eternal polygamy or who resent any call to institutional reform will be upset, but countless others will rejoice that she has shown 'a more excellent way.' "
The Witness Wore Red
Rebecca Musser grew up in fear, concealing her family's polygamous lifestyle from the "dangerous" outside world. Covered head-to-toe in strict, modest clothing, she received a rigorous education at Alta Academy, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' school headed by Warren Jeffs. Always seeking to be an obedient Priesthood girl, in her teens she became the nineteenth wife of her people's prophet: 85-year-old Rulon Jeffs, Warren's father. Finally sickened by the abuse she suffered and saw around her, she pulled off a daring escape and sought to build a new life and family. The church, however, had a way of pulling her back in-and by 2007, Rebecca had no choice but to take the witness stand against the new prophet of the FLDS in order to protect her little sisters and other young girls from being forced to marry at shockingly young ages. The following year, Rebecca and the rest of the world watched as a team of Texas Rangers raided the Yearning for Zion Ranch, a stronghold of the FLDS. Rebecca's subsequent testimony would reveal the horrific secrets taking place behind closed doors of the temple, sending their leaders to prison for years, and Warren Jeffs for life. THE WITNESS WORE RED is a gripping account of one woman's struggle to escape the perverse embrace of religious fanaticism and sexual slavery, and a courageous story of hope and transformation.
