Author: Len deBoer

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2010-12-23

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1456829734

Set during the tumultuous first sixty-year history of the Mormon church, Celestial Wife Club is an epic story of one man´s journey through the complicated world of polygamy. It started in his hometown of Kirtland, Ohio when out of survival, he was forced to become a Mormon. The story follows Tom as he earns the trust of the two most powerful leaders of the church and becomes a church "insider." Following the doctrines of the Prophet, under his threat of eternal damnation, Tom is later forced to become a polygamist. After joining the church leaders in an elite esoteric society called the Celestial Wife Club, his life becomes filled with deep, dark secrets. The religious principles of the Mormons were constantly challenged. They established thriving communities in three different states, but each time angry vigilante mobs and government threats of extermination forced them to abandon their homes and start over again. While continuing to build his harem of wives, Tom played a vital role in the Mormon´s long and difficult migration west to the desolate Salt Lake Basin. Unwillingly he joined in the battle against the Native Ute Indians, and a traumatic confrontation with a renegade Indian named Whitehorse would haunt Tom for the rest of his life. The church quickly gained complete control over the Utah Territory and the practice of polygamy among Mormon´s became common knowledge throughout the country. When the federal government enacted a series of anti-bigamy laws, the "Most Wanted Polygamist List" was created. As a target of "polygamy hunters," Tom and the church leaders were forced to play a dangerous cat and mouse game while hiding in the Mormon underground to elude federal marshals. Throughout his years of hardship, prosperity, and personal tragedies, Tom underwent a constant struggle with his decision to become a polygamist. The question in his mind was always the same - How had he allowed Joseph Smith, a self-proclaimed prophet, a man who many considered to be a charlatan, to convince him to be unfaithful to his wife and family? Tom eventually tries to break free of his complicated lifestyle, and the story concludes with an explosive and shocking ending that reveals the last bizarre secrets in Tom ́s clandestine life. www.celestialwifeclubbook.com