The Lonely Polygamist

So there’s this book that I really, really like. It’s called The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall, and I’ll admit right off the bat that it was the title that first caught my eye. I did judge this book by its cover, and I’m very glad I did, because the story more than lives up to it. I had the chance to read this novel before it came out, and when the book finally hit our shelves I put stacks of it out and eagerly anticipated recommending it. But I’ve been feeling kind of sad lately, because this book hasn’t been moving. True, it is in hardcover, and therefore more expensive. It’s difficult for a lot of people, myself included, to take a gamble on an author they don’t know. But I’m here to tell you that The Lonely Polygamist is worth it.

The Lonely Polygamist is kind of a cross between the movie Big Fish and a Wally Lamb novel. It sinks you into the world of Golden Richards and his large, rather out-of-control family (four wives, 28 children and a tentative mistress), who live in a community of polygamists in rural Utah. These characters are exquisitely formed, and as a reader I wanted nothing more than to follow them around for a few days and try to understand their day-to-day existence.  By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, The Lonely Polygamist is one of those rare novels that achieves an entire world between its two covers. As a bookseller, I am doing every thing I can to get this book into someone’s happy hands. Will it be yours?

—Kat

Tagged as: Brady Udall, Kat, The Lonely Polygamist