Daphne Bramham

“Saints” in the title refers to the religion, “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” (LDS), or more specifically, fundamentalist LDS (FLDS) – that is, the polygamous branch of the LDS/Mormons. This book includes info from various, mostly former, FLDS – that is, it includes some memoir-type info with regard to some people (again, mostly those who have left), but the second part talks about the law, courts, trials, and even that some governments look the other way (British Columbia in Canada seems the worst for that).

This book does focus more on the Canadian FLDS (and leader/prophet Winston Blackmore) than any other I’ve read, so that was interesting to me. I’m in Calgary, Alberta, and though I knew about Bountiful, BC (actually called Lister, which I didn’t know), I did not know that there is a small population of FLDS in Alberta, as well, mostly in/around Cardston. The FLDS is so intertwined, though, that it started with a history, and there is also much about the communities in Utah and Arizona, and of course, about Warren Jeffs.

I have read quite a bit about the FLDS so many names are already familiar to me in that I’ve read some of those memoirs. I know that a few of the Canadian FLDS had a trial wrap up in BC last year, so I’m going to look that up to refresh my memory on what happened there. This book was published in 2008, so things have happened since then (like the trial in BC). I found the second part of the book – the legal stuff – much more interesting than I expected, and found myself even more interested than in the first half of the book; I guess much of that was exasperation and frustration at all the laws they are breaking... and in some cases, flaunting (in addition to polygamy, there is, of course, all kinds of abuse, plus bilking the government (i.e. taxpayers) out of as much money as possible – they need all that extra income to feed their 15+ wives and 70+ children (ok, that might just be Blackmore with that many, but you get the picture)).… (más)

This journalistic study of the history of polygamy among the FLDS is fascinating & informative. It's a good follow-up to people who started with, for instance, Under the Banner of Heaven, or news stories about the FLDS, Warren Jeffs' prosecution, and so forth. It closely details a number of the individual lives and processes leading to the modern polygamous settlements, and is particularly informative for the Canadian history and perspective.

However, I give it 3 or 3.5 stars instead of more for a few reasons, all relating to the writing.

One, I found the writing confusing. In part, of course, this is because the work deals with a small number of inbred families over a period of decades, so there are lots of similar names and relations. But the natural confusion was exacerbated by Bramham's habit of jumping back and forth in time, family, and location. The confusion could have been, but was not, mitigated by use of occasional charts. Or placeholders. Or something.

Two, the writing -- not the content -- struck me as occasionally biased towards the victims of polygamy. The book is about the abuses by and victims of the FLDS leadership and theology, a topic that is sensationalistic by nature and inspirational of sympathy and horror. But occasionally the writing pushed in that direction, as well. For example, Bramham occasionally referenced various other abuses of sexism and polygamy. But with little depth of exploration of those comparative cultures or events, the sense of drama or sympathy is heightened to little other effect. Similarly, Bramham's language sometimes struck me as clearly partisan. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, and no doubt we share opinions about these matters. But in reading a journalistic / documentary account of people, from a third party perspective, I personally prefer to infer the author's personal viewpoints, rather than having them handed to me.

Three, the editing in general should have been tighter. This includes the copy-editing -- occasional typos are distracting -- as well as the issues described above. Although there was a bibliography and index, there also should have been better referencing in the text itself.

Overall, though, a worthwhile read, summarizing a lot of the current information about the historical and contemporary figures in the FLDS.… (más)