Iron Sharpens Iron: Irene Spencer: Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets & Blood Atonement

Friday, September 11, 2009

Irene Spencer: Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets & Blood Atonement

Irene Spencer, who was born into a 4th generation Mormon Fundamentalist family, married at 16 years of age to her brother-in-law, shared her husband with 9 other wives and mothered 14 of her husband's 58 children will address her latest riveting, shocking and true book: "Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets & Blood Atonement".

Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene's first book, Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife, which made the New York Times Best Seller List, 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 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.

Today Irene is a born again believer in Jesus Christ. 12 of the 14 children she gave birth to are still living today. Her first baby, Leah, died at birth. Daughter Sandra died in 2000 of breast cancer. She currently has 119 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren, with more of both expected. There are approximately 40,000 to 60,000 practicing polygamists today in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

You can hear a previous "Iron Sharpens Iron" interview with Irene on her first book "Shattered Dreams" by clicking here.

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