The Polygamist's Daughter: A Memoir

I feel like my heart was broken and stitched back together during the reading of this book.

Polygamy has been much in the news in the past few years, with the popularity of the TV show Sisterwives, and the widely-anticipated raid and subsequent imprisonment of cult leader Warren Jeffs. Memoirs of life inside these religious groups have been popular over the past years, and I've read a bunch of them. But I don't think I've read one that felt so deeply personal, and yet so universally hopeful.

LeBaron's story includes serious deprivations, abuse, actual murders - this is like a CSI case on steroids, and yet it's completely true. And yet the author's ultimate message is freedom - it's not a story of how bad her life was, or how sorry we should all feel for her. It's a story of redemption - of overcoming - of walking a hard road, and coming out the other side truly free.

This is a hard, brutal, beautiful story. Don't miss it. Highest of recommendations.

(I received an advance copy from Tyndale House in exchange for my honest opinion - but then I pre-ordered my own copy. It's that good.)