An Englishwoman in Utah by T. B. H., Mrs. Stenhouse

Fanny Stenhouse's memoir is a fierce, intimate exposure of Mormon life in Utah, introduced by Harriet Beecher Stowe's impassioned preface on the suffering of women under polygamy. Stenhouse presents her story as plain truth: a personal testimony of oppression, sacrifice, and the hidden domestic realities of a system she came to condemn. What begins as confession becomes a public appeal, shaped by crisis within the Mormon Church, her own changing circumstances, and the urging of friends, readers, and the press to reveal more. The narrative traces her life from a devout Baptist childhood in Jersey through work as a governess and teacher in France, a quiet courtship and engagement, and the unsettling discovery that her family has embraced Mormonism. Determined to investigate for herself, she enters the faith, moves to Utah, and encounters Brigham Young, secret rites, missionary life, Salt Lake society, and the brutal legacy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Along the way, she lays bare the emotional and social warfare of plural marriage, where wives are urged to select rivals, jealousy is managed as doctrine, and women are trapped in calculated domestic conflict. A concluding confession by Bishop John D. Lee deepens the book's scandalous, investigative force. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.