Giveaway: Hidden Wives

The world of polygamous religions is fascinating to many people, as evidenced by the popularity of the HBO television series Big Love. In Hidden Wives Claire Avery (a pseudonym for sisters Mari Hilburn and Michelle Poche) introduces us to the Blood of the Lamb community through the eyes of teen-age sisters Sara and Rachel. By the age of fifteen, most girls in their community have been married for at least a year, but Sara and Rachel are still unwed and attend the local public school. That changes when the leaders decide that the children should be home-schooled, to protect them from outside influences. Sara, an avid reader and student is devastated as she sits through hours of women tonelessly reading aloud from The Book of Mormon. Rachel, who has always dreamed of becoming a wife and mother, is not as upset. But another change comes to the girls when they learn that Sara has been promised to her half-uncle as a wife, and several powerful leaders have received the word of God that Rachel should become theirs and the Prophet is having trouble making a decision about her. Always more receptive to the outside world, Sara has become friends with a local boy who helps her spirit away the more reluctant Rachel, escaping not only the restrictions of the community but the physical abuse of their father, which is allowed by both their mothers.
Being a person who has always had a "live and let live attitude", the theoretical concept of polygamy has never bothered me. But like all theories, there are those who will abuse and bastardize a well-intentioned concept, and that is what the fictional Blood of the Lamb has done. Chasing teenage boys out of the community, the elders are able to have their choice of multiple brides, even those younger than their own grandchildren. Girls can be forced to marry for political and social reasons, and their "marriages" are usually well before the age of consent, making rape another one of the community's dirty little secrets. Many women in our world cannot conceive of what these girls and women live through every day, and will often ask, "Why do they stay?" For one, it is the world in which they are raised, and we all know how things taught at an early age stay with us. Living in a secluded community, often being home-schooled, many of these people don't know that other ways of life exist. And being constantly indoctrinated about the evils of the outside world, they are often more afraid of the unknown beyond their compounds. Well researched through interviews with former polygamous community members, Hidden Wivesis a compelling story of overcoming adversity at a young age and on one's own, within the framework of a fundamentalist religion.
Below is a great interview with the authors discussing their own unique view of extreme religion, having been raised in a fundamentalist Catholic commune.

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:

US and Canadian Readers: To receive your own copy of Hidden Wives, compliments of Forge Press, just leave a comment with a way I can reach you if you win.
Name will be selected via Random.org on Saturday, July 24.
For extra entries you can be a Follower, Tweet, mention the giveaway on Facebook, or blog about it. Leave a separate comment for each entry!
Many other blogs are reviewing Hidden Wives for a TLC Book Tour, and some are also giving away a copy, so be sure to go check them out!

This review is also part of Cym Lowell's Book Review Wednesday. Come on and join the party!