COVER STORY

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

For When: Your wandering days aren't over

by Molly Eichel

Published: Jun 16, 2010


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Golden Richards' construction business is falling apart, he's losing social status in his community and he's fallen in love with someone who isn't his wives. Save for his fundamentalist Mormon faith, four wives and 28 children, Golden is like any John Updike character who has lost his way. In his second novel, Brady Udall — whose great-grandfather was a polygamist — shifts perspective from his main character, the terminally indecisive Golden; his fourth wife, the grievous Trish; and Rusty, one of Golden's many children, whose nickname of "The Troublemaker" is like calling the Richards clan simply unconventional.

The story takes shape as Udall adds layers to each of his characters — keeping some purposefully and tantalizingly vague. While Golden's actions drive the narrative, it's Rusty and Trish, relaying the everyday aspects of a polygamous lifestyle, who're the most fascinating — Rusty justifies trying on his sister's underwear because all of his own are in disrepair, while Trish's abject isolation in a household of 33 is at the novel's ironic core. Udall's gift is the humor he imbues even at the book's direst moments: The Richards family dog is often forced to wear underwear, and Rusty would be an insufferable shit if you didn't want to give him a hug and tell him it's all going to be OK. But it's Golden, in a role usually cast as evil and oppressive, that is truly impressive. Because no matter how many wives he has, he's just a lonely guy looking for love.

W.W. Norton, 602 pp., $26.95, May 3

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