Latter-day Saint women share their stories in ‘The Not-So-Secret Lives of REAL Mormon Wives’
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IDAHO FALLS – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has gotten some attention from several film and TV projects in the last several months, one of which is Hulu’s reality series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.”
The series follows current and former members of the Church embroiled in drama over alcohol use, unwed pregnancies, male strip shows and partner-swapping. In response to this and other film projects, the Church released a statement in August, saying these productions are “gross misrepresentations” of church members.
“We understand the fascination some in the media have with the Church, but regret that portrayals often rely on sensationalism and inaccuracies that do not fairly and fully reflect the lives of our Church members or the sacred beliefs that they hold dear,” the Church said.
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A new book released on Nov. 25 captures what Latter-day Saint women are really like. It’s called “The Not-So-Secret Lives of REAL ‘Mormon’ Wives.” The book highlights eight women who, according to a synopsis on Amazon, “strive to live by the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and find fulfillment … as wives and mothers, but also as leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals.”
In an interview with EastIdahoNews.com, Emily Clark, the book’s editor who selected the women who are highlighted, says she got the idea after seeing a billboard for the Hulu series. Each of the women, most of whom have never done any professional writing, had a draft submitted and finalized in six weeks.
“It was really impressive what they were able to do,” Clark says.
We spoke with several of the women, one of whom is Kimberly DowDell. The Salt Lake City resident has been married to her husband for 25 years. Together, they have four kids, one of whom has Down Syndrome.
Dowdell has a large social media following, where she often talks about her son and advocates for those in the special needs community.
She also works part-time as a Zumba instructor.
“I’ve been teaching Zumba for the last 15 years and that’s a big part of my story. It ended up being an important part of my healing after I found out my son had Down Syndrome,” DowDell says.
Without giving away a lot of details, which you can read about in the book, DowDell explains her son had some health complications after he was born and spent a lot of time in the hospital.
She struggled with depression due to this and other challenges in her life, and Zumba, along with her faith, helped her get through it.
“God knew that I was going to need Zumba in my life,” she says.
Another woman featured in the book is Esther Jackson-Stowell. She came to the U.S. from Nigeria when she was 11 and has been living in Utah for the last 14 years.
She is a mother of five kids and works as a real estate broker.
“That title has been a huge part of my life — as a broker of friends or a broker of relationships. Seeing people’s needs and being able to share my life and my gifts with them” is something I really enjoy, says Jackson-Stowell.
Jackson-Stowell is thrilled to be a part of the book and believes it will “bless lives” and help readers realize their stories are important.
“Like the end of the book says, ‘Go out and live your not-so-secret life.’ People need to hear about these things that are real, relatable and Christ-centered,” Jackson-Stowell says. “We are more than what a TV show might show only a glimpse of.”
Clark hopes readers come away with a sense of how much God loves them.
“That’s how I felt when I was reading these women’s stories,” Clark says. “They’re really powerful.”
“The Not-So-Secret Lives of REAL ‘Mormon’ Wives” is available for purchase here.
WATCH OUR INTERVIEW IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.