Forsaking All Others (Sister Wife)

This book, the second in the Sister Wife series, is not only gripping to read, it is also informative about the LDS. Make sure you read the conversation with the author at the end to get a full understanding of the difference between the LDS and Christianity.

In the first book of the Sister Wives series, For Time and Eternity, when Camilla decides that she cannot remain with a husband who has taken another wife, she finds herself up against formidable opposition. She is regarded not as a woman who is walking away from the concept of plural marriages but as a woman who is walking away from God. I'm not going to get into the "right" or "wrong" of plural marriages but I cannot understand how any woman would willingly accept being just one of many wives to her husband.Forsaking all Others picks up the story of Camilla after she has left her husband. But For Time and Eternity and Forsaking all Others are just fiction books. How do "wives" in real life feel? Well in the TLC show Sister Wives which is about the Browns, a real life family where a man has four wives, Kody Brown is portrayed not only as "cute" in a boyish, aw-shucks kind of way, but also as a fun-loving, devoted father and husband who just happens to have four wives. However, the fact remains that every night when he goes to bed, he is cheating on three of his wives and I personally would not want to go to bed wondering what was happening in the room down the hall.Apparently some of his wives actually share my feeling because they have admitted on camera to feeling resentment and jealousy when a new "wife" is brought into the family. However, they see this as a flaw of theirs, rather than a flaw in Kody. But I noticed that when Mary (wife number one and his only legal wife) was telling Kody about her feelings of jealousy she asked him "How would you feel if I had another husband?" He grimaced and his immediate response was that he didn't even want to think about that because the very thought was "repulsive". Why is sharing a wife any more repulsive than sharing a husband? Someone evidently forgot to tell the boy "what's fair for the goose is fair for the gander".As is often the case with a really great book which is the first of a series, Forsaking All Others was not quite as good as the first book, For Time and Eternity. One problem I had with Forsaking all Others is that after all she had been through, I thought Camilla deserved a "happily ever after" ending. I wanted her to divorce her husband (by then he probably had several wives and wouldn't miss her all that much) and find a man who believed in the one-woman/one-man concept and who more closely shared her belief in who Brigham Young and Joseph Smith were and who they were not.I think Allison Pittmam took a very controversial subject and handled it masterfully. Both of these books are good and give the reader a lot to think about. Highly recommend.

Allison Pittman’s The Sister Wife Series contains stories about the Mormon religion and their leaders’ and follower’s practices. “Forsaking All Others” is the story of Camilla Fox, wife of Nathan and mother to two little girls. Following Nathan, a Mormon, to Utah under the guidance of Brigham Young, Camilla was content for a while until she found that, as a Christian woman, she could no longer accept the beliefs and practices of the Mormons. All this became too much for her to bear when her husband took another wife. They were called “sister wives” and were expected to share their husbands in all things and work together to raise all the children and attend to matters of the house. When Camilla decided that she had to leave her children behind until she could send for them, she left her home travelling towards her parents’ home. She was caught in a blizzard and rescued by the military. The story continues as she is protected from her husband and the Mormons who would harm her for leaving by Colonel Brandon. Her main focus is to free herself from Nathan and bring her children to her.I found this story very unsettling for me. All the talk of God’s earthly prophets and their demands and directives to their followers were not something that I could accept, much less condone. I’m sure that things like this happened before the practice of bigamy was outlawed by the Federal Government, but until then, these women suffered degradation and abuse at the hands of their husbands and the “church”.I received this print books from Tyndale Publishers in return for my honest review.

I picked up the first book For Time and Eternity when it was offered free on Kindle. It tells the story of Camilla Deardon Fox, living in Iowa when the Mormon wagon trains moved through on their way to Utah. Used to living under the strict hand of her father, Camilla becomes fascinated with the friendly people who have camped at the edge of their property. Her heart is quickly stolen by Nathan Fox, a young man who has become a devout convert to Mormonism. When the choice comes to choose between her father and Nathan, young Camilla follows her heart.Life with the close-knit Mormon community and her husband is blissful at first. They have two daughters, then their infant son dies a few hours after birth. In her grief, Camilla questions some Mormon teachings. While Nathan is away from home serving to build the temple in Salt Lake City, she rediscovers the faith of her childhood and determines to teach her daughters the Bible.Camilla believes it may be possible to surrender her heart to Jesus and also be in submission to her husband. Until Nathan introduces a woman that he intends to make his wife. As Camilla becomes increasingly ostracized in the community and even her own home, she grows closer to the Lord.For Time and Eternity ended with such a cliffhanger, I immediately purchased the sequel, Forsaking All Others on my Kindle. I read it within 48 hours in three big bites, which is highly unusual for me.

This author takes you on a journey where you feel more than a fly on the wall watching the heroine - you walk and feel with her. The story is so real and believe-able, you could think it is an auto-biography. It is a true testament to living the christian life in a world of conflicting beliefs. Managing the emotional whirlpool of loving someone who believes differently from you and whose beliefs allow them do things your faith does not permit; managing the conflicts of heart and soul; etc are all issues this book throws light on. The heroine is not a super human, loved and accepted by all, but rather a real person!! I love the realism of this author's work. My usual preference is for story endings with neat tidying up of all issues. Yet I still loved this story even though all issues were not tied up at the end.

loved it

I so enjoyed this book I simply could not put it down. The author had me in tears at times but it is such a beautiful story. I recommend this book. And believe me you will not be disappointed. God bless.

Really enjoyed this author and this story series. Allison writes so that you there with the characters. God is prevelant in the story, but not all the time because of the freedom of the characters to choose!