Bouquet of Roses is the fictional story of an American woman's search for happiness in the Królewiec (pronounced Krool-eh-viets) family of Poland. Set at the turn of the 21st century in post-communist Europe, it tells the story of Stanisław (pronounced Stani-swav) - known as 'Stan' for short - and his large plural family of fourteen wives and many more children, from its simple beginnings in Poland to its grand consummation in Sweden, with stimulating forrays into Germany, Norway, Estonia, Finland, Romania and Russia, past and present. Though written by Stanisław Królewiec (a pen name), the account is presented through the eyes of Hélène Holtz from Missouri, USA.

The story is not, however, entirely fiction. Many of the characters portrayed are real people who have been living plural marriage for many years. Their names, locations and events have, however, been recasted to give anonymity to the persons in question. Some of the characters are composites or adapatations of real people living this lifestyle and others are pure invention. The human aspects are, however, all absolutely genuine - the joys, struggles and insights into human nature - and the Christian/Messianic experience of plural marriage - are all real. These are the things have been lived by the real characters of the story for the past quarter of a century.

The geography, European history, lifestyle and theology are all authentic and true to life. They have been carefully researched and will therefore hopefully be instructive. Above all, it is the purpose of the author to give the reader a genuine feel of what contemporary plural marriage (also known as polygamy, polygyny and patriarchal marriage) in Europe is actually like.

It should be stated from the outset that the kind of plural marriage portrayed here has nothing in common with Mormon, Moslem or native African polygamy. And though there are some similarities with what in the late 20th century came to be called 'Christian polygamy', and with some of the Messianic Jewish polygamy of the early 21st century, the form of plural marriage described in these three novels is entirely unique and belongs to what is sometimes known as Echad Plural Marriage, or simply, Plural Holy Echad Marriage (HEM).

The author of this book does not, therefore, respresent any form of Christian or Messianic plural marriage other than HEM which was revealed and first practiced in Europe in the late 1980's. He believes this to be the only authentic form of New Testament plural marriage that is true to the principles revealed by Christ and the apostles which are known amongst us as the Mystical Marriage of Messiah (MMM). Nevertheless, there is obviously some commonality between HEM and some forms of Christian and Messianic plural marriage, though we wish to state that we absolutely do not give carte blanche to all forms of polygamy/plural marriage and believe that some forms are abusive, harmful and destructive.

As far as the commonality that is shared between fellow Christians and Messianics acknowledging Yah'shua the Messiah - Jesus Christ - as their Lord and Saviour, is concerned, one of the purposes of these novels is to hopefully dispell many of the myths concerning this sacred estate of matrimony that have evolved in Western cultures. Ignorance and prejudice are the inevitable consequences of a lifestyle that people know little about. Though the principle is certainly abused in some quarters (alas, sometimes in so-called 'Christian' ones), it is important to realise that polygamy/plural marriage comes in many colours and shapes, and that singlular stereotypes are not only misleading but sometimes positively harmful.

This is not the first plural marriage novel to be written (the first was The Prince of Sumba) but as far as we know it is the second, and is certainly the first of its kind and the first trilogy. Perhaps it will not be the last. Though the author has not been involved in the ministry for 13 years (from 2003 to 2016) and once had many other volumes in preparation which he hoped would be a blessing to the rapidly growing worldwide Messianic/Christian plural marriage community and that they would help steer those practicing this ancient lifestyle into the way it was originally intended by the Creator, it may be a while - if at all - before something comparible to this is produced again.

Bouquet of Roses took about a year to write (2000-2001). It lays out the doctrine and philosophy of Echad (Oneness) Plural Marriage as practiced by the Królewiec family. It summarises, in what we hope is an enjoyable and readable format, our vision of the way we believe Christian/Messianic plural marriage should be lived both today and in the coming millennium where, we believe, it will become the norm in the Israelite nations. For those of you who are not so academically-minded and don't want to sift through the many hundreds of articles on the main HEM website, it is hoped that this will form an alternative, integrated and entertaining way to understand and appreciate our lifestyle.

This is the fourth (2016) edition of the book. Though originally prepared to be sold to help finance the Królewiecs' ministry, it was decided finally to make the book freely available to the public without cost in order to counter some of what we believe to be the less desirable forms of 'Christian' and 'Messianic' polygamy/plural marriage that at the time were making inroads into the Christian/Messianic community and causing considerable damage to families. To help defray the costs involved in the preparation of these three books, we are inviting our readers to consider the possibility of ordering the DVD/USB Flash Drive containing not only Bouquet of Roses but the entire HEM website with its hundreds of articles and several plural marriage study books and novels. Not only that, but you get the entire NCCG.ORG website containing many thousands of invaluable materials that lay the theological foundation of Holy Echad Marriage (HEM).

A paperback edition of this book is planned in the future which we also hope you will avail yourself of when it becomes available.

This Trilogy is dedicated to the glory of Almighty God, Yahweh-Elohim, through His Son, Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), and to those early wives of mine who helped inspire it.

First Preface, 31 December 2001
Second Preface, 4 March 2009
Third Preface, 2 April 2016