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The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff
Two intermingled stories about the affects of polygamy in society and the mysterious powers of one’s faith.
Ebershoff recounts the story of LDS prophet Brigham Young’s 19th wife, Ann Eliza Young, with a collection of historical diary entries, news articles, and academic research papers. It shows how plural marriage started as well as how it shaped the future of the church. Ann Eliza, once a victim of polygamy, devoted her life to the fight against plural marriage, and in the process almost brought down the whole Mormon Church. In her memoir, she narrates her mother’s reaction when she learned her husband must marry more women to stay in God’s good graces, and her distaste for her father in submitting to such acts.
At the same time, the author tells a modern day fictional story about a boy who is excommunicated from a polygamist sect (the Firsts) that broke off from the Mormon Church in 1890 when plural marriage was outlawed. Jordan Scott was kicked out of the sect when he was 14 for holding his sister’s hand. He was dropped off in the middle of the night in the middle of the desert with $17 dollars, by his mother. The Prophet, a.k.a. the leader of the Firsts, told Jordan’s mother that she no longer could love her son, and it was God’s test to her to see if she could abandon him.
Six years later, Jordan is in Southern California and is living out of his van with his boyfriend. He sees in the newspaper that his mother has been arrested for killing his father. His mother was wife #19. He then heads back to Mesadale, home of the Firsts, to try and get his mother out of prison, because he believes that she is innocent. Along the way, he meets many other “lost boys” that have been excommunicated as well.
This novel portrays how current polygamist sects brainwash their members from birth to believe whatever the prophet says (for example, the FDLS sect and Warren Jeffs). In Jordan’s case, the prophet said Europe was destroyed by God. The first time he ran into a European he asked, “How did you survive?”
In the historical accounts of polygamy, the members are asked to have faith in God in order to cope with plural marriage. This intriguing novel shows how faith is powerful, in that it can make someone do the most unthinkable.
Title: The 19th Wife
Author: David Ebershoff
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 9781400063970
Review written by: Emily Redfield
Reviewer's Rating:9.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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