I should also note that I wrote the first draft of this novel (then called Family Bonds) in 2014 and subsequent drafts in early 2015. By November 2015, when the “Exclusion Policy,” as opponents have begun to call it, was leaked to the press by ex-Mormon blogger John Dehlin, I thought the book was nearly finished. When it came back for plot edits, I found I couldn’t see any way to write this story set in this time frame, with Samuel openly gay and headed on a mission, without having Linda deal with the new policy in some way.
As I went through thirteen more drafts of the book in the next six months, I desperately tried to iron out my own emotional feelings as I wrote through Linda’s. As in other books, Linda is not me, but perhaps she is more like me in this book than she has been in any other. My experience with Mama Dragons mirrors Linda’s, and some of my new friends in progressive Mormonism appear in this book, including Mitch Mayne. These are friends to whom I have clung as I have felt like the walls of my religion have been crashing in on me.
I have also included here a glimpse into my own experience with home birth. I delivered two of my five children at home with a lay midwife, one with a certified nurse midwife in a free standing clinic, one at a hospital with a certified nurse midwife, and one in an emergency transport at a hospital after things nearly went bad at home. My stillborn daughter’s heartbeat was gone before I tried to deliver again with a midwife at home, but I have always wondered if I had chosen to deliver with a doctor, if she might have been induced earlier and saved. This leaves me in a strange position of ambivalence about home birth.
I thought that The Bishop’s Wife was as much a book that exposed myself as I would ever write. It turns out I was wrong. This book is far more personal and has been far more painful and difficult to write than any other. Thank you for reading it and for being willing to sit through this sifting of my thoughts on marriage, religious freedom, gender equality, and ultimately, devout faith. I’m once again trying to be better and more faithful, and mostly failing.
I need to thank my editor, Juliet Grames, for her many drafts of patient editing of this book. Also, Amara Hoshiro, who helped edit early drafts; Jennifer Ambrose Lyford, who did an emergency final edit to fix the ending; and my agent, Jenn Udden, who did several ultra-fast edits to come my rescue, as well. Thanks to the whole team at Soho, including Meredith Barnes, Rudy Martinez, Bronwen Hruska, Paul Oliver, Abby Koski, and Rachel Kowal.
Bibliography
These are some of the resources I used as background for this book. If you’re interested in learning more, I highly recommend the book section as being more detailed and accurate. The Internet resources are quick and easy ways to get an overview.
Books on Mormonism and Polygamy:
Hales, Brian. Modern Polygamy and Mormon Fundamentalism: The Generations After the Manifesto. Greg Kofford Books, March 29, 2007.
Hales, Brian C. and Laura H. Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding. Greg Kofford Books, Vols 1-3, April 14, 2015.
Hardy, B. Carmon. Solemn Covenant: The Mormon Polygamous Passage. UI Press, April 1992.
Krakauer, Jon. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Violent History. Anchor, June 8, 2004.
Pearson, Carol Lynn. The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy. Pivot Point Books, July 2016.
Quinn, D. Michael. The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power. Signature Books, 1997.
Quinn, D. Michael, ed., The New Mormon History: Revisionist Essays on the Past. Salt Lake City, Signature Books, 1992.
Internet Resources on Mormon Polygamy:
Park, Lindsay Hansen. Year of Polygamy, podcast audio, http://www.yearofpolygamy.com/
“Plural Marriage and Families in Early Utah.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-and-families-in-early-utah?lang=eng.
“Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, https://www.lds.org/topics/plural-marriage-in-kirtland-and-nauvoo?lang=eng.
Quinn, D. Michael. “LDS Church Authority and New Plural Marriages, 1890-1904.” Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Spring 1985, http://www.lds-mormon.com/quinn_polygamy.shtml.
Quinn, D. Michael. “The Mormons Interview.” PBS transcript of interview, conducted on January 6, 2006, http://www.pbs.org/mormons/interviews/quinn.html.
Other Mormon History Topics in Books:
Brodie, Fawn. No Man Knows My Name: The Life of Joseph Smith. Vintage, August 1, 1995.
Brooks, Juanita. Mountain Meadows Massacre. University of Oklahoma Press, May 15, 1991.
Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. Vintage, March 13, 2007.
Farland, David. In the Company of Angels. David Farland Entertainment, July 23, 2009.
King, Linda Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith. University of Illinois Press, June 1, 1994.
Prince, Greg. Leonary Arrington and the Writing of Mormon History. University of Utah Press, June 30, 2016.
Riess, Jana. Mormonism for Dummies. For Dummies, February 25, 2005.
Smith, Joseph and B.H. Roberts. The History of the Church. 7 Vols. Chickadee Publishers, July 12, 2014.
Snow, Erastus and Orson Hyde. The Complete Journal of Discourses. Chickadee Publishers, July 12, 2014.
Stegner, Wallace. The Gathering of Zion: The Story of the Mormon Trail. Bison Books. April 1, 1992.
Internet Resources on Mormon History Topics:
“Do Mormons Believe That Adam is God.” Brigham Young University. http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/colton/personal/lds/adamisgod.htm.
“Fundamentalist Mormon Beliefs Explained For Us – ‘Sister Wives.’” Sister Wives Blog, July 10, 2011.
http://sisterwivesblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/fundamentalist-mormon-beliefs-explained.html.
“The Grand Destiny of the Faithful: Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2011. https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-5-the-grand-destiny-of-the-faithful?lang=eng.
“Mormon Fundamentalism.” Wikipedia, June 12, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_fundamentalism.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre. http://mountainmeadowsmassacre.com/.
Oswaks, Molly. “Tiny Tombstones: Inside the FLDS Graveyard for Babies Born from Incest.” Vice, March 9, 2016. https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/tiny-tombstones-inside-the-flds-graveyard-for-babies-born-from-incest.
“Race and the Priesthood.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. https://www.lds.org/topics/race-and-the-priesthood?lang=eng
Snow, Lowell M. “Blood Atonement.” Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Brigham Young University, 1992. http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Blood_Atonement.
Stack, Peggy Fletcher. “Shocking Historical Finding: Mormon Icon Eliza R. Snow Was Gang-raped by Missouri Ruffians,” The Salt Lake Tribune, March, 3 2016, http://www.sltrib.com/home/3613791-155/shocking-historical-finding-mormon-icon-eliza.
“Was Joseph sealed to other wives before being sealed to Emma?” Fair Mormon, December 25, 2014. http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith/Polygamy/Hiding_the_truth/Did_Emma_know.
“9 Things You Didn’t Know About the FLDS.” ABC News, May 7, 2015. http://abcnews.go.com/US/things-didnt-flds-church/story?id=30827256.
For Time and All Eternities Page 29
