The 19th Wife: A Novel
by David Ebershoff
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Book Summary Information
Author: David EbershoffEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-08-05
ISBN: 1400063973
Number of pages: 514
Publisher: Random House
Book Reviews of The 19th Wife: A Novel
Book Review: Creative Historical and Contemporary Writing
Summary: 4 Stars
The author presents a creative look at historical Mormonism and contemporary Mormon cultism. The two genres are interspersed with some other varieties such as fictional letters, accounts and even a wikipedia article.
The story of Ann Eliza, Brigham Young's "19th wife," incorporates the history of Mormonism from Missouri to Utah. It shines a light on the dynamics of the religion especially on the plural wife tenet of the religion's roots. This part of the story is interesting and well written.
The contemporary account of Jordan a young man who has been expelled from the "Firsts" of Mesadale, AZ is equally well written and intriguing. It shows the current dynamics of the Mormon cult that still practices plural wives. This is a cult mirroring the Fundamentalist Mormon cult that Warren Jeffs heads and has been in the news recently.
Both story lines reveal the realities of plural marriage and the controlling male-dominated natures of the religions. The method of reading two stories concurrently can be frustrating at times as readers may want to stay on one tale when the writer moves to the other. It also prevents more in-depth development of each story. This is an entertaining and stimulating way to read history and to learn about the modern offshoots of Mormonism. There is little at all about contemporary mainstream Mormonmism.
If you have read Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer, then this format is very similar and the topic is similar with the exception that this is contemporary fiction and creative historical fiction; whereas Under the Banner of Heaven is non-fiction.
Summary of The 19th Wife: A Novel
Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain.Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff's The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense.
It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family's polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.
Soon after Ann Eliza's story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds-a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father's death.
And as Ann Eliza's narrative intertwines with that of Jordan's search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.
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