Shelah's Reviews > The 19th Wife
My rating:
The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff (Goodreads Author)
by David Ebershoff (Goodreads Author)
First of all, if you're LDS and uncomfortable (or sticking your head in the sand) about our church's history with polygamy, then this probably isn't the book for you. It's really two stories-- a modern-day story of a young man trying to get his mom out of jail after she was arrested for murdering his polygamous father. The other story is about Ann Eliza Young, widely known as Brigham Young's 19th wife, who left him after several years of marriage and spent most of the rest of her life campaigning against polygamy and the Mormons. Ebershoff's portrayal of Brigham Young is pretty harsh, but if you're not wary of reading another viewpoint (albeit fictionalized) of our history, it's very well-written and thought-provoking.
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How is fictionalized history history? It's a bit harsh to accuse someone of sticking their head in the sand if they don't enjoy a book that blurs history with fiction so much that that which is fiction is given the implication that it is in fact history.
Carolyn, it's a NOVEL. You might want to look up the definition of the word in the dictionary. The 19th Wife never pretends to be non-fiction. Kudos to Shelah for being an open-minded LDS reader.
