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 … 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.
Praise for The 19th Wife
“This exquisite tour de force explores the dark roots of polygamy and its modern-day fruit in a renegade cult . . . Ebershoff brilliantly blends a haunting fictional narrative by Ann Eliza Young, the real-life 19th “rebel” wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, with the equally compelling contemporary narrative of fictional Jordan Scott, a 20-year-old gay man. . . . With the topic of plural marriage and its shattering impact on women and powerless children in today’s headlines, this novel is essential reading for anyone seeking understanding of the subject.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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Spell-binding but becomes depressing. Still I kept reading. It is historically significant and I was fascinated by the character development. Finally, I became eager for it to end but I kept on reading.
Amazing and Haunting story. Wonderful writing!
An in depth look at the history of the Mormon church, warts and all, and a heartbreaking examination of the horrible effects of polygamy on women and children.
Interesting mix of timelines. I liked how the author switched between different character’s voices. I have always been fascinated by the Mormon Church and their ties with polygamy and this book gave another glimpse of the effects it had on the family dynamics. It was well written and had characters that were likeable and believable. Overall, time well spent reading!
well written.
I enjoyed the book, am fascinated by Brigham Young and his wives. And this book was very helpful in my understanding of how the household operated.
I know very little about the Mormon faith, so I cannot comment on how much of the book was historically accurate and how much was fiction. I can say that it brought that time in history to life for me, which is what (in my opinion) the best historical fiction does.
Some of the descriptions just went on and on and on. I had to skip toward the end, and I knew so much of it already (having lived in Utah for ages.)
Learned about the church of latter day saints.
The 19th Wife has answers to everything you wanted to know, (but were afraid to ask), about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and polygamy. Meticulously researched and presented in an even-handed, historical manner, at times it was difficult to know where fact ended and fictional details were added to make the story flow. The author’s epilogues and bibliography were helpful in that respect. There are two parallel stories. The first is based on the memoir of Brigham Young’s 19th wife, Ann Eliza Young, who divorced Young, sued for alimony, and toured the country speaking about her bondage as one of Young’s many wives. It is unknown which of Brigham Young’s wives she was. She was sometimes referred to as Young’s 27th wife but may have been his 52nd. Wives who had fallen from favor or use forfeited their ranking and the actual number of wives any man had was a closely held secret. The second is a modern story about Jordan Scott, an excommunicated man whose mother is accused of killing his polygamous father in a (fictional?) community of “Firsts,” a Fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon church whose members still practice “celestial marriage.” The change from the 1870’s to present and back was initially confusing, but ultimately, the intertwined stories worked well together. Ann Eliza’s tale provides historical detail while the mystery of who killed Scott’s father provides intrigue and a faster pace. The conclusion in both stories is the same: plural marriage rarely benefits its female participants. Ironically, polygamy was decriminalized in Utah in 2020.
A little slow to read but very informative.
It wasn’t a page turner or tear jerker but it did give a lot of insight into a dark period of history, especially for women and young boys.
It started out very interesting about the history and lives the polygamists but as the story cultivated I lost interest. I stopped reading before half way through.
This book was emotionally hard to read. There is so much hidden about this culture, it was eye opening to be given a glimpse of this lifestyle.
During this Women’s History Month, it’s great to find a book about a woman who made a huge difference whom I had never heard of. Ann Eliza Young was married to Mormon Prophet Brigham Young in mid-1800s. In fact, she was his 19th wife (or maybe his 50th, it was hard to tell). Her life with him was a misery, so she divorced him and spent years traveling the lecture circuit. She had a lot to do with eliminating the practice of polygamy among Mormons. Although factual, this book was a novel, and a current-day murder mystery was thrown in, too. A great read.
What a great story. Had me hooked…
The fact-driven story of early Utah history is noteworthy. It just goes to show how women can survive with a strong constitution and an overwhelming need to protect their children.
It took a bit to figure out who was who and how the timeline worked, switching from past to present. But once you get the hang of it you’ll find it very interesting and will experience a wide range of emotions…sympathy, anger, astonishment, disbelief, sadness, and yes…even happiness at times.
Well written book about early day polygamy in the Mormon church and it continuing in present day. The tragic effects on its participants and their families was and is evident in this book. Eye opening and tragic at the same time
The author attempts to combine historical and more modern day issues concerning women in difficult marriages or situations. It would help if he were more accurate in his depictions of history. Not accurate. It would also help if he had more knowledge about women in general.