Shattered Dreams: My Life As a Polygamists Wife -- 2008 publication

Literature & Fiction

Spencer, Irene

Contemporary

Hodder Pb

Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of her struggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene's shocking tale. Insanity ran rampant in her husband's family and was the source of inconceivable events that unfolded throughout Irene's adult life. CULT INSANITY takes readers deeper into her story to uncover the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil -- a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order -- and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. For those who were gripped by Shattered Dreams, the rest of the story will blow them away. CULT INSANITY is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

Center Street

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife. When the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's brothers' Mexican ranch. They lived in squalor and desolate conditions in the Mexican desert with Verlan's six brothers, one sister, and numerous wives and children. Listeners will be appalled and astonished but, most amazingly, greatly inspired. Irene's dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

Community & Culture

Tantor Audio

Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of her struggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe that polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene's shocking tale.In Cult Insanity, Spencer reveals the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil-a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order-and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. Cult Insanity is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.

Religion & Spirituality

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife. When the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's brothers' Mexican ranch. They lived in squalor and desolate conditions in the Mexican desert with Verlan's six brothers, one sister, and numerous wives and children. Listeners will be appalled and astonished but, most amazingly, greatly inspired. Irene's dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife at age 16. When the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's brothers' Mexican ranch. They lived in squalor and desolate conditions in the Mexican desert with Verlan's four brothers, one mentally ill sister, and numerous wives and children--Irene herself bore thirteen. The dramatic story of her life, and her escape to an outside world for which she was little prepared, reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way to truth and redemption.--From publisher description.

Shattered Dreams: My Life As a Polygamist's Wife (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series)

Thorndike Pr

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in becoming the second wife to her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron. When the government raided their community-the Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona-seeking to enforce the penalties for practicing polygamy, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's family ranch in Mexico. Here they lived in squalor and desolate conditions with Verlan's six brothers, one sister, and numerous wives and children. This appalling and astonishing tale has captured the attention of readers around the world. Irene's inspirational story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

Irene Spencer did as she felt God commanded in marrying her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, becoming his second wife. When the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, Irene and her family fled to Verlan's brothers' Mexican ranch. They lived in squalor and desolate conditions in the Mexican desert with Verlan's six brothers, one sister, and numerous wives and children. Readers will be appalled and astonished, but most amazingly, greatly inspired. Irene's dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused and how one woman and her children found their way out, into truth and redemption.

RE-RELEASED 2019 12th ANNIVERSARY EDITION with added photos and updates 
Irene Spencer grew up in a fundamentalist Mormon family--the thirteenth of thirty-one children--so it was no surprise that she found herself at sixteen years of age, in a plural marriage, sharing her husband with a half-sister.Enduring abject poverty, living in isolation, and suffering the neglect of a husband with divided loyalties created unbearable conditions. Yet Irene managed to overcome hese obstacles to seek out a life that she believed would be better for her and her children. She made the bold step into the "outside world" and into a freedom she never knew existed. The details of her harrowing experience will appall, astonish, and in the end, greatly inspire. The dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused, and how one woman and her children found their way into truch and redemption.EDITORIAL REVIEWSSHATTERED DREAMS is a masterpiece. What courage to carve out a life in a polygamist cult for twenty-eight years... Spencer's personal portrait as a long-suffering wife... is a true, heart-wrenching story, but one that is long overdue, exposing the bleak, spirit-crushing world of plural marriage. A must-read."--BUD GARDNER, coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Writer's Soul"It's hard to tell which is more devastating in this memoir: the strains of a husband-sharing with--ultimately--nine other wives, or the unremitting poverty that came with maintaining so many households and fifty-six children. Spencer's writing is lively and full of engaging dialogue, and her life is nothing short of astonishing. Her story will be emotional and shocking, but many readers will resoate with the universal question the memoir raises how to reconcile inherited religious beliefs when they grate against social norms and the deepest desires of the heart."--Publisher's Weekly"Spencer writers grippingly... in this brave and honest book."--People magazine, 4-star review

Gold-Donn Opportunities Publishing

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Books by Spencer, Irene

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Spencer, Irene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Shattered Dreams: My Life As a Polygamists Wife -- 2008 publication

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement

Shattered Dreams: My Life As a Polygamist's Wife (Thorndike Press Large Print Core Series)

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife

Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife