The Lonely Polygamist is the momentous new novel by Brady Udall, the author of a long-time favorite of mine, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint. Like me, you may think the title is something of an oxymoron — after all, how can a polygamist be lonely? But that simple truth is at the heart of this exceptional book.

Picture a young boy sitting at an upstairs window watching the road for his father to come home. Of all of the graphic imagery found in this novel, this is the one that has stayed with me for several months now. And it is not a solitary boy but two boys in the novel, both yearning for a connection. The first boy is Golden Richards who was born the son of a wandering father, always on the road looking for work. Golden’s mother, feeling deserted, has smothered her son with her insecurities so when he is old enough to leave home, Golden heads west to find his father. It turns out that his father, Royal, has made a new life for himself in Virgin, Utah, home to a community living the beliefs of the Prophet Brigham Young and for the first time in his life, Golden is welcomed into an extended (spiritual) family which seems to have no boundaries.

Many years later, Golden is living a complicated life with four wives and 28 children and it is one his sons who also sits in the window waiting for a father to come home and actually notice him. But Golden is not coping well with the circus his life has become. His wives are discontent. The spiritual life he seemed destined for only feels like a burden. His construction business is floundering in the bad economy compelling him to take a job in Nevada building a brothel. And finally, he has become smitten with another woman and is actually considering an affair.

With so many characters in a single book you may think you would become confused or lost. But Udall’s portraits are so distinct, even now I can recall Golden’s four wives — Beverly, Nola, Rose-of-Sharon and Trish. And my heart still aches for two of the children, Glory and Rusty.

Udall has written a vast novel which goes back and forth in time, exploring the lives of Golden and his family, giving insight into a family as foreign and chaotic as any I have read about. Throughout the novel I found myself laughing, crying and scratching my head in wonder all the while compulsively turning page after page of this amazing book. ~Patti