It happened to Emma. One day her life was normal, the next day she was thrust into a polygamist subculture. Emma s experiences, and the experiences of her friends, are typical of hundreds of young people living in cult-like Mormon polygamist sects. The story is told from Emma s point of view, and from her perspective she sees little of the polygamist lifestyle to be desired. But as she moves about in the culture, she meets girls and women who find plural marriage desirable, secure, spiritual, and compatible in ways that satisfy their present needs and desires.
Women are the backbone and adhesive element that is indispensable to the success of polygamy.
Many find plural marriage enriching, adventurous, more free and rewarding than monogamy. However, in some groups women are brainwashed and herded around until cut out like cattle. Others are skillfully programmed with inferiority complexes, making them dependent upon unscrupulous, lecherous leaders. Still others are raised in isolation making them ill-equipped to compete and survive in a modern cosmopolitan society. Some are by nature content to allow what they perceive as powerful, righteous men to take control of their lives.