The Polygamist’s Daughter

The Polygamist’s Daughter

The Polygamist's DaughterTitle: The Polygamist's Daughter
Author: Anna LeBaron, Leslie Wilson
Narrator: Anna LeBaron
First Published: March 21, 2017
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Pages: 302
Genre: Memoir, Non-Fiction, Religion, True Crime
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Rating:


Synopsis:

My father had thirteen wives and more than fifty children . . .
This is the haunting memoir of Anna LeBaron, daughter of the notorious polygamist and murderer Ervil LeBaron. Ervil’s criminal activity kept Anna and her siblings constantly on the run from the FBI. Often starving, the children lived in a perpetual state of fear—and despite their numbers, Anna always felt alone. Would she ever find a place she truly belonged? Would she ever be anything other than the polygamist’s daughter?

Filled with murder, fear, and betrayal, The Polygamist’s Daughter is the harrowing, heart-wrenching story of a fatherless girl and her unwavering search for love, faith, and a place to call home.

Buy the Book: Amazon

Review

The Polygamist’s Daughter is a book that I had deeply mixed feelings on. Anna’s story is incredible, heartbreaking, and provides some personal details about the LeBaron family, beyond the headlines. At the same time, the writing felt stilted, perhaps in part because it is co-written. There was something missing for me that was hard to put my finger on, but something about the writing made it hard for me to connect. Not to say that the book wasn’t engaging, I listened to it consistently over the course of a month on audio and I never felt bored by it.

The memoir narrates Anna’s precise memory of events as she lived it, and it at times felt almost like fiction, like Anna was a character in a story. It goes through an order of events from childhood through adolescence, and how she came to terms with her trauma through religion. I would have liked it if more focus was placed on Anna’s personal thoughts on the cult and the infamy that it had garnered, especially now that several decades have passed and the dust has settled.

I’m also glad that I decided to listen to this book on audio, which is narrated by Anna LeBaron herself. Hearing Anna speak directly made her narration more engaging than if I had read the book normally. The LeBaron cult was truly terrifying and a fascinating part of American history. Memory history is so invaluable when putting together a complete picture of a series of events, and Anna’s story filled in some of the missing pieces of what we know about the cult.

Quote

“I wanted her to know that I had matured—both physically and spiritually—and would not allow the pain of having grown up as the polygamist’s daughter to determine the outcome of my life.”

Content Warnings

View Spoiler »

About the Author

About Anna LeBaron

One of more than fifty children of infamous, polygamist cult leader, Ervil LeBaron, Anna LeBaron endured abandonment, horrific living conditions, child labor, and sexual grooming. At age thirteen, she escaped the violent cult, gave her life to Christ, and sought healing. A gifted communicator and personal growth activist, she’s passionate about helping others walk in freedom. Anna lives in the DFW Metroplex and loves being Mom to her five grown children.

About Leslie Wilson

Leslie Porter Wilson, a former English teacher, followed her passion for writing and editing in 1999, when she wrote an adverb-ridden, never-published novel.

Leslie speaks to dozens of groups each year, including MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), Hearts at Home, Early Childhood PTAs, writer’s groups and conferences, and women’s retreats. She wrote hundreds of columns for Star Community Newspapers, a Dallas-area conglomerate, over a period of seven years.

A 6th generation Texan, Leslie married Bret Wilson in 1988. They have three grown children and a lovely daughter-in-law. Leslie enjoys hanging out with her husband and kids, playing board games or snow skiing. She also frequents flea markets and antique malls, searching for the perfect items for her farmhouse.


Discover more from Radical Dreamer

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Comments

No comments yet. Why don’t you start the discussion?

Leave a Reply