Review: A somewhat enlightening yet depressing memoir
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 03 13, 2014
Fifty Years in Polygamy by Kristyn Decker was heart-wrenching at best.  I applaud the author’s endeavors to shine a light on the dark side of polygamy, however, I must admit that I was unaware that anyone outside of the cult thought there was anything but a dark side.  The book is good ballast to the prettied up version of polygamy that is presented on cable television.I was astounded that the author would continue to return to her misogynistic, abusive husband.  Reading about the Kristyn’s suffering emotional abuse and betrayal of her polygamist husband and his other wives was shocking, but even more shocking was her playing the victim and returning even when she had multiple opportunities to escape to a more healthy lifestyle. It was quite difficult to maintain sympathy for her and to continue reading the book once that pattern was established.While meant to help others, I’m sure writing this book was cathartic for the author.  The writing is raw.  Every word in the book could be true, but it felt like an overplayed hand of cards.  It was interesting to hear the financial and relationship struggles that most of us wouldn’t be privy to know.  I found it interesting that even the misogynist husband seemed to struggle with balancing his various marriages—although that could have just been his venting of hatred toward women.Although I only rated this a 2-star read, I think that someone less familiar with LDS would find it more enlightening and rate it higher.