The Polygamist's Daughter: A Memoir by Anna LeBaron

Summary (from the publisher): My father had more than fifty children. So begins the haunting memoir of Anna LeBaron, daughter of the notorious polygamist and murderer Ervil LeBaron. With her father wanted by the FBI for killing anyone who tried to leave his cult - a radical branch of Mormonism - Anna and her siblings were constantly on the run with the other sister-wives. Often starving and always desperate, the children lived in terror. Even though there were dozens of them together, Anna always felt alone. She escaped when she was thirteen, but the nightmare was far from over. A shocking true story of murder, fear, and betrayal, The Polygamist's Daughter is also the heart-cry of a fatherless girl and her search for love, faith, and a safe place to call home.

Review: Anna LeBaron was raised in the radical branch of Mormonism led by her father, the notorious polygamist and murderer Ervil LeBaron. Pursued by the FBI for killing anyone who tried to leave his cult, Anna and other family members were constantly on the run and fled to Mexico. As a small child, Anna, her siblings, and many half-siblings and other children of polygamists lived in near starving conditions and in extreme neglect. From a young age, Anna was pushed into child labor, separated from her mother for months on end as she was called to serve Ervil, and had to help with endless childcare and chores at home. At the age of 13, her older sisters helped her escape. While later in life she made peace with her mother, the wounds of her childhood run deep. 

This was a heart wrenching memoir to read. Anna is so young and so desperate for love and affection that she rarely receives and so eager to please. The scenes where she quietly waits for hours on the off chance that her father might need her to help with something, just so she can be in his presence, were pitiful. The scenes of a dozen children, sleeping with just as single blanket on the living room floor of their tiny Mexican apartment were astonishing, as were details about their meagre diet. From an incredibly early age, young girls in her community were expected to care for babies and toddlers. In fact, Anna is shuffled around from different households to be used as a maid and nanny and didn't attend school the whole time she was in Mexico. There is also a lot of loss here. In addition to deaths, Anna is shuffled among households and frequently separated from those she has an emotional attachment too, which cannot have been good for a young child. 

In the end, it seemed strangely easy for Anna to leave the cult. Perhaps this is simply due to how this is portrayed in the text, which is told in simple language that doesn't always seem to capture the full depth of Anna's emotional torment during her childhood. Anna was lucky that she had supportive older sisters that helped her get away from the lifestyle of her childhood and I'm sure that her father's death made it easier to flee. While at heart this memoir was intended to cover her childhood in polygamy, I would have liked more time spent on how she radically chose a different path for herself at the age of just 13. Instead, her young adult years and later life are skimmed over. However, this was a piercing and emotional read that draws stark attention to the horrors of radical Mormonism that practice polygamy. In addition to this tale, I would highly recommend a memoir by LeBaron's first cousin, The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner, which is even more horrific and traumatizing to read. 

Stars: 3.5

Related Titles: 

• The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner