In My Father's House: A Memoir of PolygamyBefore Big Love, before Eldorado, a groundbreaking memoir explored polygamy, not with outrage but with honesty and grace. In 1984, when polygamous groups knew little but the fear and pain of secrecy and hiding, Dorothy Allred Solomon, the twenty-eighth of forty-eight children, went public with her family’s story. Descended from five generations of Mormon polygamy, Solomon evokes the fervor and dedication that bound the Allreds to “living the Principle.” She vividly renders the persecution and poverty she knew as a child, the joyous awe of a father’s too-rare presence, and an abiding hunger for autonomy. Confronting the paradox of a faith that seals loved ones as families for eternity but casts them as outlaws in the here and now, she traces the events that culminated in her father’s 1977 assassination, a tragedy that rocked all Utah. Now, more than a quarter century later, Solomon revisits her story in a new preface and epilogue and in light of recent events that continue to rivet attention and spotlight our national struggle for understanding and fairness. |
From inside the book
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Page 25
My mother smiled behind her hand. "Mama!" I whispered. "What if Daddy drives
off the cliff?" My palms were wet. My mother smiled. "Don't worry, honey." But my
father chattered on. "Look, that cliff face has the features of an Old Testament ...
My mother smiled behind her hand. "Mama!" I whispered. "What if Daddy drives
off the cliff?" My palms were wet. My mother smiled. "Don't worry, honey." But my
father chattered on. "Look, that cliff face has the features of an Old Testament ...
Page 53
And our eyes met, shine for shine, smile for smile. My mother let me watch as she
nursed him, her breasts heavy and full as sun-hot ripe tomatoes in the garden.
But her face was long, her eyes red, and she rarely smiled since the baby's birth.
And our eyes met, shine for shine, smile for smile. My mother let me watch as she
nursed him, her breasts heavy and full as sun-hot ripe tomatoes in the garden.
But her face was long, her eyes red, and she rarely smiled since the baby's birth.
Page 88
He arrived three days later, weary but smiling, and, we could tell, very glad to see
us. He had driven straight through, stopping only to nap for an hour or two on the
roadside. "I'm taking you girls home," he declared as he came through the front ...
He arrived three days later, weary but smiling, and, we could tell, very glad to see
us. He had driven straight through, stopping only to nap for an hour or two on the
roadside. "I'm taking you girls home," he declared as he came through the front ...
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