Reading

It's officially summer (although someone forgot to tell that to the UK, we've been wearing winter clothing to summer football tournaments), which means it's socially acceptable to admit to consuming reading a lot of books.
I just finished a simple, light read of 599 pages ( I know, "She has five children, where'd she find time to read 599 pages?!"), The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall.

Extremely protective of my free time, I did NOT regret investing the hours to this tragicomic page-turner. I was even very sad to see it end. If Udall ever thought of writing a sequel, I'd be first in the queue.

Anyone with children living in the home or feeling overlooked by a spouse; the "invisible child" of the family or just intrigued by the whole polygamy lifestyle, will be rewarded with this summer escape.

The story is what the title comically suggests, a man married to four wives with 6 times as many children -- how on earth could one be lonely?
But Golden Richards is. He is having one humdinger of a mid-life crises, and there's no one to help him through it. Through his eyes we quickly become attached not only to him, but to various family members and colorful characters whose actions have impacted his life.

My affection for The Lonely Polygamist was increased by the setting, the story often referring to the city I grew up in and the surrounding Utah/Arizona/Nevada countryside. It gave me a sneak peek into the lifestyle of the many 'secretive' polygamist communities that always held so much mystery to the rest of us living a few miles away. Udall brought warmth to the characters and their way of living. I saw them as women, children and men with feelings and worries like my own, rather than a just peculiar group of strangely dressed zealots.

What impressed me most about Udall's approach to this entertaining tale was how he'd have me hanging on every word for one character and then switch to another (who's story would be knitted into others an as fully engrossing). At one point when I was completely addicted to three different plot lines already, without me knowing it, he gave me a history lesson when I thought I was just reading a memory of a wedding.

Udall weaves an intricately connected link between the pasts and the presents of each character, slyly tangling them in ways to leave us speculating long after the book has been passed on to our girlfriends.
I'm still in awe of foreshadowing I missed and can't get one particular character out of my head (I think I see a little of him in each of my boys).


So, the first of my summer reading list, I will highly suggest this book-- especially for book clubs in search of an in-depth book discussion.

What have you been reading in all of your spare time?



Sensitive readers may find some language offensive, email me if you have concerns or need specifics.