The Sisterhood: Inside the Lives of Mormon Women

257 Pages·2007·0.72 MB·English

by  Dorothy Allred Solomon

The Sisterhood
The Sisterhood
q
Inside the Lives of Mormon Women
Dorothy Allred Solomon
THE SISTERHOOD
Copyright © Dorothy Allred Solomon, 2007.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2007 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 and
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS.
Companies and representatives throughout the world.
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd.
Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom
and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union
and other countries.
ISBN–13: 978–1–4039–8278–0
ISBN–10: 1–4039–8278–3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the
Library of Congress.
Solomon, Dorothy Allred.
The sisterhood : inside the lives of Mormon women / by Dorothy Allred
Solomon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–8278–3 (alk. paper)
1. Mormon women. 2. Marriage—Religious aspects—Mormon
Church. I. Title.
BX8641.S64 2007
289.3082—dc22
2007005359
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Letra Libre
First edition: October 2007
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
I dedicate this book to the women in my life: my own dear
mother, Mabel Finlayson Allred, her twin and sister-wife,
my Aunt Melba, and my father’s other plural wives who
were the “mothers” in my family. I make tribute to my
grandmothers, Etta Josephine Hanson Finlayson and Mary
Evelyn Clark Allred. I have written this as a letter to my
daughters, Denise Andreianne Solomon Gibson Sanchez,
Layla Janelle Solomon Hardy, Laurissa Jeanne Solomon
Reese, and Jennifer Leavitt Solomon and for my grand-
daughters, Jenna Christine Gibson and Cassaundra Justine
Gibson. I have written with love for the many sisters and
sisters-in-law in my family, and for my “girlfriends” who
keep me thinking, smiling, daring and dancing—all of them
my sisters in Zion.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Note to the Reader xi
Chapter 1. Introduction: As Sisters in Zion 1
Chapter 2. For Time and All Eternity 17
Chapter 3. A Righteous Seed 51
Chapter 4. Call the Man 75
Chapter 5. Love at Home 97
Chapter 6. Charity Never Faileth 123
Chapter 7. What Would Jesus Do? 161
Chapter 8. The Sisterhood 193
Glossary 219
For Further Reading 227
Other Reading and Viewing 229
Notes 231
Index 239
vii
Acknowledgments
great outpouring of gratitude goes to Amanda John-
son Moon, the wonderful editor who initiated the
idea of this book and then midwifed it into being.
Thanks also to Luba Ostashervsky for her enthusi-
Aasm, editorial skill, and support. Thanks to Yasmin
Mathew for carefully overseeing production. Thanks to Wendy Weil for
believing in me and representing my work. I offer much gratitude to
Carol Houck Smith who has consistently fed the flame of literary inspi-
ration. Thanks also to the many women whose insight, research, and
commitment to truth contributed hugely to my enlightenment and to
this book. I am especially grateful to Layla Hardy for reading every
word, for taking on the arduous task of indexing, and for reassuring me
each time I trembled before the blank screen. I am grateful to Denise
Sanchez for her stabilizing presence and her assistance with notes.
Thanks also to Laurie Reese for her close reading and generous feed-
back. I would also like to thank Renon Hulet and Reuben Bradley for
their help in compiling the glossary and Ellis Levine.
I am also grateful to the men whose lives have provided me with ex-
amples, especially my husband, Bruce Solomon, my son, Jeff Solomon,
and my son-in-law, Todd Hardy, for sharing their insights and knowledge
regarding men in the LDS Church. Thank you to the many women of
the sisterhood who have shared their stories, their dreams, and their
lives with me, especially Trudy Tracy, Jamie Blum, and my sister of the
heart, Sally Smith.
ix