Hidden Wives - Softcover

Avery, Claire

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0765363747 ISBN 13: 9780765363749

Publisher: Forge Books, 2011

Synopsis

Sara dreams that she and her sister, Rachel, might escape their abusive father and his four wives, who constantly vie for power in their overcrowded household.  Sara wishes to choose her own path in life.  To go to school, to get a job, to marry of her own free will.  She wants the same for her beloved sister.

But that is not Sara’s destiny, nor Rachel’s.  Trapped in a secret, polygamous cult, the fifteen-year-olds are overdue to be married to husbands selected by their Prophet.  Sara—too smart and willful for her own good—is terrified when she learns she will be sealed to her already-married uncle.

For Rachel—a stunning and loyal beauty—the Prophet has a different plan.  Sixteen men, including some of the most powerful elders of their Church—seek Rachel’s hand.  But a forbidden love is blossoming for Rachel, one that will change her forever and threaten the entire community.

About this title

About the Author:

Mari Hilburn, an attorney, and Michelle Poche, a screenwriter and journalist, are sisters who write novels under their joint pseudonym, Claire Avery. 

They grew up in Chicago in a cult that combined Catholic fundamentalism with socialism—and plenty of guilt.  When the sisters were in their teens, their father, fearing that the end was near, moved—along with twenty-five other families—to the Ozark Mountains.  There, they lived in a bomb shelter and attempted to raise chickens and grow enough food to survive the coming nuclear holocaust. 

Moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area after high school graduation, the sisters earned degrees in Psychology and Journalism.  Michelle moved to New York and Europe to work as a fashion model, while Mari pursued a career as an attorney in private practice.  Now full- time novelists, Mari lives near Chicago while Michelle lives in Aspen, Colorado.

From Publishers Weekly:

This undistinguished debut by the pseudonymous Avery (two sisters who were raised in a fundamentalist Catholic community) focuses on a horrifically oppressive Utah religious sect. Young female members of Blood of the Lamb, like sisters Sara and Rachel Shaw, are generally wedded by the age of 15, assigned to be sealed for all time and all eternity in a celestial marriage. Male members, by contrast, can only attain the highest level of heaven by taking at least three wives. Prophet Silver, the movement's leader, decrees that Sara must marry her father's half-brother, and singles out the attractive Rachel for his own special attention. Both girls, after exposure to the outside world, consider leaving the community. The violence, sexual abuse, and the predictable consequences of inbreeding aren't for the faint of heart, but readers should also be prepared for more melodrama than drama. Betty Webb does a better job with the contemporary polygamy theme in Desert Lost. (June)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Forge Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0765363747
• ISBN 13: 9780765363749
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384