{"title":"Irene Spencer","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the captivating memoirs of Irene Spencer, a woman who lived within a polygamous community. Her compelling stories offer a rare glimpse into a hidden world, exploring themes of resilience, faith, and personal growth.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"shattered-dreams-book-irene-spencer-9780340963616","title":"Shattered Dreams","description":"Irene Spencer grew up in a fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village in Arizona. The thirteenth of thirty-one children, she grew up in abject poverty and isolation, and was taught that she should never question the church leaders. Her mother, unable to cope, left her children and three 'sister-wives' with her abusive husband.   Desperate to escape her violent home, and believing she had no choice but to live by 'the Principle', at sixteen Irene found herself in a plural marriage, sharing her husband with her half sister. When the government raided her village, she fled with Verlan, numerous other wives and countless children to a ranch in Mexico where Verlan's brother, a self-proclaimed prophet, was attempting to found a new Mormon colony.  The strains of husband-sharing with - ultimately - nine other wives were unbelievably hard. Irene's story provides a fascinating insight into polygamous marriage - the squabbles and the jealousy, and the agony of watching your husband choose other wives over you. They lived with divided loyalties in unremitting deprivation - struggling to maintain so many households and to bring up 56 children.  Irene eventually escaped with her children and made the bold step into the outside world and into a freedom she never knew existed.   Irene has led a truly extraordinary life and her harrowing story will appall and astonish, but in the end her courage and determination to find a better life for her 13 children is incredibly inspiring.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49527427694865,"sku":"GOR000996507","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49649353294097,"sku":"GOR000316375","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49929727770897,"sku":"CIN0340963611A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50177447854353,"sku":"CIN0340963611G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50952994586897,"sku":"GOR002480669","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0340963611.jpg?v=1750845226"},{"product_id":"shattered-dreams-my-life-as-a-polygamist-s-wife-book-irene-spencer-9781733358804","title":"Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49891033383185,"sku":"CIN1733358803G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52613110038801,"sku":"CIN1733358803VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1733358803.jpg?v=1750722444"},{"product_id":"shattered-dreams-book-irene-spencer-9781599957197","title":"Shattered Dreams","description":"Irene Spencer believed God told her she must marry her brother-in-law Verlan LeBaron, and become his second wife. Irene did as she felt God commanded, and when the government raided the fundamentalist, polygamous Mormon village of Short Creek, Arizona, where she lived with Verlan, she and her family fled to Verlan's brothers ranch. The years in the Mexican desert with Verlan's six brothers, his mentally ill sister, and numerous wives and children were unbelievably hard. Irene lived in broken down adobe buildings, with no running water. An outdoor toilet, old tire treads for door hinges, dim oil lamps, and recycled old clothes, served as her only material possessions. It's hard to tell which is more devastating in this memoir: the strains of husband-sharing with -- ultimately -- nine other wives, or the unremitting poverty that came with maintaining so many households and 56 children. This dramatic story reveals how far religion can be stretched and abused, and how one woman and her children found their way out and into truth and redemption.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49946977141009,"sku":"CIN1599957191G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50048842268945,"sku":"CIN1599957191VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51329009615121,"sku":"CIN1599957191A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53360651927825,"sku":"GOR002742837","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":53362774901009,"sku":"GOR003671957","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1599957191.jpg?v=1751088390"},{"product_id":"shattered-dreams-book-irene-spencer-9781599951584","title":"Shattered Dreams","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49988892459281,"sku":"CIN1599951584G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1599951584.jpg?v=1751024263"},{"product_id":"cult-insanity-book-irene-spencer-9780446538190","title":"Cult Insanity","description":"Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of her struggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene's shocking tale. CULT INSANITY takes readers into her story to uncover the outrageous behaviour of her brother-in-law Ervil - a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order - and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a licence to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. CULT INSANITY is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50162268537105,"sku":"CIN0446538191VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50352165912849,"sku":"CIN0446538191G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0446538191.jpg?v=1750782111"},{"product_id":"cult-insanity-a-memoir-of-polygamy-prophets-and-blood-atonement-cd-9781400113262","title":"Cult Insanity","description":"Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of her struggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe that polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven. The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene's shocking tale. In Cult Insanity, Spencer reveals the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil-a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order-and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God's avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority. Cult Insanity is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51334935642385,"sku":"CIN1400113261VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1400113261.jpg?v=1750755547"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/de-de\/collections\/autor-buecher-von-irene-spencer.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}