Wagons and Wives is a novel that could be true. It weaves toghether the lives of early Morman settlers in Utah, and in the breakaway polygamous colonies in Mexico. Neither romanticized nor judgemental, the stories depict individuals' feelings and struggles, against a backdrop of early Mormonism.
Maud, the ''bad girl'' who carries a terrible secret; Louisa, the little girl trying to understand the mysterious ways of grownups; Belinda, the ''second wife'' whose husband must choose between her and his first; and Hodie, struggling with enormous guilt over his past; all come alive in their conflicts, dreams, tragedies and hopes.
Besides the challenges of building a life from nothing in a new land, the families in Wagons and Wives struggle with polygamy - first, the conflicts and sacrifices of living with in it, then coping with the sudden pronouncement that it is no longer to be practiced. Go into hiding? Flee to Mexico? Abandon wives and children to fend for themselves? The fascinating tapestry of characters makes Wagons and Wives a unique look into this peculiar time and place in history. [from publisher's web site]