A House Full of Females

A House Full of Females examines Mormon plural marriage between 1835 and 1870 through the lives of the women who experienced it. Author Laurel Thatcher Ulrich draws from primary sources including diaries, letters, quilts, and photographs to reconstruct this complex period in religious history. The book traces how Mormon women navigated polygamy as both a social structure and religious practice in nineteenth-century America. It explores their varied responses to plural marriage, from acceptance to resistance, while documenting their increasing involvement in public life and political causes. The narrative follows key figures through the early years of the Mormon movement, the period of intense persecution, and the establishment of Utah Territory. It reveals how women built communities, managed households, and participated in religious and civic organizations during this turbulent time. The work presents plural marriage as a paradox - a practice that constrained women's personal lives while simultaneously creating opportunities for their emergence as political actors and advocates for women's rights.

Readers found this book presented new perspectives on early Mormon women's lives through diaries and primary sources. Reviews highlight Ulrich's detailed research and focus on women's roles in plural marriage, politics, and religion during the mid-1800s. Liked: - Original diary excerpts and documentation - Balance between academic rigor and readability - Fresh angle on Mormon women's activism and autonomy - Coverage of both prominent and ordinary women's experiences Disliked: - Dense academic writing style - Jumps between multiple characters and timelines - Assumes background knowledge of Mormon history - Some readers wanted more analysis of plural marriage impacts Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (439 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (108 ratings) Common review quote: "Meticulous research but requires focused reading" appears in various forms across platforms. Several readers noted it works better as a reference book than a continuous narrative, with one stating "Not a casual read but worth the effort for serious students of women's history."

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🔹 The author, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who coined the famous phrase "Well-behaved women seldom make history." 🔹 Utah women gained suffrage in 1870 - a full 50 years before the 19th Amendment - largely due to the political activism of Mormon women chronicled in this book. 🔹 Contrary to popular belief, many Mormon women of this era were highly educated professionals, including doctors, writers, and newspaper editors. 🔹 The book draws from over two dozen previously unpublished diaries, revealing intimate details about daily life in polygamous households that had never before been shared publicly. 🔹 Several of the women featured in the book participated in the creation of the Relief Society in 1842, which became one of the largest and longest-running women's organizations in the world.