Reviews

Media portrayals of polygamy in religious communities often portray women as oppressed and subjugated, whereas men in those communities, because of the apparent dominion over a plurality of spouses, carry far more weight and authority. Michelle [Mueller] challenges this simplistic portrait. Her analysis reflects experiences recounted to me by women in Bountiful, who displayed savviness and strategic thinking in terms of planning their domestic and family lives. Michelle's book complicates presumptions about gender and power, and unpacks the complexities she identifies by exploring how they unfold within a range of community contexts. 

-Angela Campbell, author of Sister Wives, Surrogates and Sex Workers: Outlaws by Choice?

I heartily recommend Michelle Mueller's New Religions and the Mediation of Non-Monogamy to anyone interested in modern polygamy and other forms of marriage and intimate relationships.... I like books that leave me thinking and wanting more, and this certainly did. I found her information to be interesting and her perspective refreshing.

-Craig L. Foster, co-editor of The Persistence of Polygamy, Vols. 1-3