Book description
Irene Spencer grew up in a fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village
in Arizona. The thirteenth of thirty-one children, she grew up in
abject poverty and isolation, and was taught that she should never
question the church leaders. Her mother, unable to cope, left her
children and three 'sister-wives' with her abusive husband.
Desperate to escape her violent home, and believing she had no choice
but to live by 'the Principle', at sixteen Irene found herself in a
plural marriage, sharing her husband with her half sister. When the
government raided her village, she fled with Verlan, numerous other
wives and countless children to a ranch in Mexico where Verlan's
brother, a self-proclaimed prophet, was attempting to found a new
Mormon colony.
The strains of husband-sharing with - ultimately - nine other wives
were unbelievably hard. Irene's story provides a fascinating insight
into polygamous marriage - the squabbles and the jealousy, and the
agony of watching your husband choose other wives over you. They lived
with divided loyalties in unremitting deprivation - struggling to
maintain so many households and to bring up 56 children.
Irene eventually escaped with her children and made the bold step
into the outside world and into a freedom she never knew existed.
Irene has led a truly extraordinary life and her harrowing story will
appall and astonish, but in the end her courage and determination to
find a better life for her 13 children is incredibly inspiring.
'Utterly engaging... jaw-dropping stuff as Irene provides a
fascinating insight into Mormon life and polygamous marriage *****'
Irene Spencer currently lives in Anchorage Alaska, with her husband of
17 years, Hector Spencer. During the 28 years of her first marriage to a
polygamous husband, Irene gave birth to 13 children (all single births).
She also adopted a newborn daughter, who became her ninth child. Irene
has 114 grandchildren. She has 17 great-grandchildren, (four more on the
way). Among her many talents, she is an accomplished seamstress who sews
for family and friends, she's a great cook and bakes pastries and
homemade bread, she speaks Spanish and English fluently and has traveled
to 23 foreign countries and 23 states.
