The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

Genre: Fiction

Ease with which to read/enjoyable author style 4.0

Suitable ending 3.5

Personal favoritism 3.75

Poetic language 3.0

Memorable 4.0

Original, creative plot 4.5

Original, well-developed characters 4.0

Probability of recommendation 4.0

Ability to "move" emotionally 3.0

Literary value and/or educational value 2.5

Total: 36.25

Final Rating: 3 1/2 stars

4-sentence summary:

Golden Richards is a man with four wives and 28 children, but he feels lost and helpless amongst them after the death of one of his daughters. This story is told from the perspective of three individuals: Golden, in his quest to find happiness; Trish, his 4th wife who has escaped her own sadness of a previous life but is drawn by the allure of the "normal" life; and Rusty, the 11-year-old 5th son, who feels abandoned by his father and ostracized by his siblings. As Golden contemplates having an affair with a married woman, his family begins to unravel into a complicated mess.

Critique:

This 604-page-long book has a slow beginning but soon comes to a satisfying and comfortable flow. I've always been fascinated by polygamist culture: I've read "Escape", the polygamist wife Carolyn Jessop's escape from her nightmarish polygamist household... I've watched "Big Love", the Showtime drama about a man who breaks free of the traditional polygamist lifestyle to raise his family (complete with 3 wives) in his own way. But "The Lonely Polygamist" doesn't take a dramatic look at polygamy the way these other stories do. Instead, it looks at all the potential disasters that can come about in a polygamist household, and tells the story with a slap-stick humor. It is, as Publisher's Weekly noted in it's review of the novel, very similar to "The Corrections" (Jonathan Franzen) in that it takes a family and dissects it with both humor and tender care. This novel is, simply put, a fascinating read. There are enough plot twists and unusual (but thoroughly and realistically detailed) characters in this novel to keep the story fresh and exciting throughout the length of it. Brady Udall's witty and sharp writing style is enough to make me add his first novel, "The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint" to my "Must Read" list.