Today we are joined by Janet Kay Jensen, author of “The Booklover’s Cookbook” and “Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys.”
Janet, your new book “Don’t You Marry the Mormon Boys” came out at a time that was very significant in our current affairs. Warren Jeffs was on the front of every newspaper. Did his story inspire you to write the book at that time, or was the book already in the works and came out coincidentally at the same time the Jeffs story broke?
I actually started the book in 2000, when Warren Jeffs was not on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, HBO wasn’t producing Big Love, and the YFZ (Yearning for Zion) Ranch in Texas didn’t even exist. Then “The Book Lover’s Cookbook” took over my life for a couple of years. It involved a tremendous amount of work and research and recipe development, so Mormon Boys was put on the shelf. I was sidelined for another year with a serious medical condition that required surgery with a long recovery time, and I don’t think I had a creative thought during that time period. That was very discouraging. Everybody tells me the release of my book was “good timing” but as you can see, it came about when it was ready.
The book features a character that was raised in a modern-day polygamous
family. How closely did you pattern your character’s life after that
modeled by those in Jeff’s commune, or is your depiction totally different?
I have done a lot of reading about the subject, including Jessie Embrey’s excellent book in which she interviewed people who had been raised in the days when polygamy was still practiced by the church, or in the decades following the Manifesto, and also I’ve read books by women who’ve left various groups. Dorothy Allred Solomon’s “Daughter of the Saints,” which is autobiographical was a very important book that I read to in an effort to gain insight into polygamy. I have also interviewed a former polygamist.
We drove through Colorado City about ten years ago and I’ve never forgotten the vivid images of that community. Dirt roads, no sidewalks, no landscaping, the few windows that existed were built high in the houses, and many homes remained unfinished to avoid property taxes. A good portion of it looked like a shantytown. It was shocking, and so was the cemetery, which told some very sad stories about infant mortality and teenaged mothers. My fictional town, Gabriel’s Landing, is more like an orderly old-fashioned farming community, though the standard of living is still modest for most of its residents.
When I learned I’d gone to high school with a young man raised in polygamy, the son of a Salt Lake City group’s leader, I was really intrigued, because I don’t believe any of us knew anything about this boy’s background. He has since left polygamy and I began reading the occasional article about him and his family in the paper, which has further kindled my interest in the lifestyle and the challenges faced by those who leave it.
As you wrote the book, you drew some comparisons to modern-day polygamy as
opposed to polygamy as practiced by the early members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Was it your intent to show the
difference, and what kind of feedback have you gotten on this aspect of
your book?
I did want to show some of the differences between polygamy as practiced in the early days of the Mormon Church and the way a modern group might interpret “the Principle” now. I chose to point out that some take advantage of the welfare system (the wives claim to be single mothers), which puts a burden on the state’s taxpayers. Though there are definitely fanatics who are deeply entrenched in that way of life today, most of my Gabriel’s Landing folks were just old-fashioned and following the traditions of their fathers.
I didn’t give them a “prophet.” Instead, a Council of Brothers governs all religious and temporal issues, and though they try to keep a firm hand on all aspects of life, they are more moderate than some leaders you read about in the news. However, abuses do occur in my fictional town, which Louisa discovers when she returns home to practice medicine. She finds birth defects caused to intermarriage, which is common among various sects. The occurrence of these disabilities is generally regarded as “God’s will,” but not to Louisa, who knows the medical reasons and counsels against close intermarriage. In some situations, the birth of a baby with disabilities can be used as “proof” of the mother’s “unworthiness,” which is a prime example of abuse of authority and the ways women are coerced into submission.
Louisa also sees evidence of depression and physical abuse among her women patients, and her efforts to treat these conditions create trouble with the Council. The practice of older men marrying young girls, while young men are sent outside of the community to fend for themselves is not uncommon, and it happens in my made-up group, too.
I love how you took historical fact and modern fact and blended them with fiction in order to create your story.
We’ll continue our chat with Janet Kay Jensen tomorrow. In the meantime, you can learn more about her here.
Related Blogs:
One Lost Boy: His Escape from Polygamy