Shattered Dreams

Laural Merlington narrates this unforgettable, if frustrating, book with such intelligence and sympathy that her patience helps support the listener's. Irene Spencer spent 28 years in a polygamous marriage to a man who, from day one, was so insensitive, dishonest, and full of himself that the listener's question is why would anyone sane put up with him, let alone with the shocking poverty and danger he provided, when she had other choices? Spencer tells what happened--the thirteen children, the eight sister-wives, the insane brother-in-law's murder spree, and her endless disappointments and angers--and it's an astonishing human document. But she cannot in the end explain why she stayed, only that she did. Spencer offers the word "brainwashing." Accurate, without doubt, but it leaves one questioning. B.G. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine