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The Giant Joshua
Set in the 1860s at Utah’s Dixie Mission, The Giant Joshua is the deeply moving story of a far-flung outpost in the desert where a band of Mormons, like the giant Joshua, fight to survive in an arid land. A young Mormon girl―innocent, tender, courageous―finds herself torn between fear of her older husband and love for his son; between her passionate faith in the stern tenets of Mormonism and her equally passionate desire for beauty and gaiety.
Considered a classic in historical fiction, The Giant Joshua was first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941.
Distributed for Western Epics Publishing.
Considered a classic in historical fiction, The Giant Joshua was first published by Houghton Mifflin in 1941.
Distributed for Western Epics Publishing.
654 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
September 8, 2013
I definitely see why this is widely considered the greatest work of LDS fiction ever. I'm not a very sentimental reader, but it was hard to not get sucked into the lives of passions of the characters portrayed. The writing, while sometimes a bit dramatic and flowery (a hard line not to cross when the writer is trying to be profound), is really moving. I have little tolerance for large books, but this one was worth my time.
It bothered me that she heavily implied that the work was more or less non-fiction. There were quite a few eye-roll moments; for example, the protagonist is stuck in an unhappy polygamous marriage her whole life because she's afraid of blood atonement enforcers, when in reality polygamous wives in Utah had the right to unilaterally, no-fault divorce their husbands (indeed such divorces were relatively common, even among the leadership of the Church); ironically, when Whipple was writing this, the same right had yet to be extended to all women in the United States. (Also, don't get me started on blood atonement.)
Also, the caricatures were a little bothersome (e.g. the lascivious, domineering patriarch; why is it that a caricature aimed at collectivism is being "honest," but a caricature aimed against individualism is "didactic"?)
Finally, she refuses to take the worldview of the characters on their own terms, sometimes making the story a little unbelievable. The characters are either cultural Mormons who don't really believe the fundamentals of Mormonism or they're zealots. I'm sorry, but you don't fight Indians, Virgin river bloat, US Marshals, starvation, crickets, droughts, and floods based on some nebulous 20th century universalist philosophy that Erastus Snow seemingly espouses near the end. They needed some pretty serious exclusive truth claims to justify the hell they were going through, and in my (admittedly, limited) reading of early LDS primary sources, Unitarian-type religious outlooks were rare or nonexistent among the practicing LDS of the time. On more than a few occasions Whipple reads her 20th-century themes and perspectives into her 19th-century characters.
Anyway, an excellent read as a work of fiction that does, in my opinion, deserve its place at the pinnacle of Mormon literature, but should not be read as any sort of history. If you want to learn about the early St. George history or polygamous history in general, read the primary sources.
It bothered me that she heavily implied that the work was more or less non-fiction. There were quite a few eye-roll moments; for example, the protagonist is stuck in an unhappy polygamous marriage her whole life because she's afraid of blood atonement enforcers, when in reality polygamous wives in Utah had the right to unilaterally, no-fault divorce their husbands (indeed such divorces were relatively common, even among the leadership of the Church); ironically, when Whipple was writing this, the same right had yet to be extended to all women in the United States. (Also, don't get me started on blood atonement.)
Also, the caricatures were a little bothersome (e.g. the lascivious, domineering patriarch; why is it that a caricature aimed at collectivism is being "honest," but a caricature aimed against individualism is "didactic"?)
Finally, she refuses to take the worldview of the characters on their own terms, sometimes making the story a little unbelievable. The characters are either cultural Mormons who don't really believe the fundamentals of Mormonism or they're zealots. I'm sorry, but you don't fight Indians, Virgin river bloat, US Marshals, starvation, crickets, droughts, and floods based on some nebulous 20th century universalist philosophy that Erastus Snow seemingly espouses near the end. They needed some pretty serious exclusive truth claims to justify the hell they were going through, and in my (admittedly, limited) reading of early LDS primary sources, Unitarian-type religious outlooks were rare or nonexistent among the practicing LDS of the time. On more than a few occasions Whipple reads her 20th-century themes and perspectives into her 19th-century characters.
Anyway, an excellent read as a work of fiction that does, in my opinion, deserve its place at the pinnacle of Mormon literature, but should not be read as any sort of history. If you want to learn about the early St. George history or polygamous history in general, read the primary sources.
October 22, 2013
I visit St. George, Utah a few times each year to visit family. After reading this book, I will never be able to see it in the same way. I'll never see the temple, or the tabernacle, or the gorgeous red mountains without thinking about the pioneers that settled the area and all they suffered to bring the town to life. Much blood, sweat, tears went into that town. The pioneers suffered drought, floods, dam breaks, hunger, disease, and the twin trials of poverty and polygamy. Maybe the same could be said for many other pioneer settlements, but Maurine Whipple didn't write about those settlements, so I won't see them in this same way. I think this is her gift to St. George and her settlers. She created this monument to them.
This is a statement from her preface that describes her attitudes to her characters (mostly fictitious except for Erastus Snow, Brigham Young and a few others) and the early pioneers in general:
"Perhaps...it is natural for our generation to deify them. Perhaps because of the abuse they suffered for over half a century, it is natural for us even now to carry a chip on our shoulder toward the world - to lack a sense of humor regarding those who could not have survived without humor But I believe we detract from their achievement when we paint them with too white a brush. These people of whom I write are my people and I love them, but I believe that what they did becomes even greater when we face the fact that they were human beings by birth and only saints by adoption."
Her characters live up to her statement. They feel real, and imperfect, and all the more sympathetic.
This is a four star for me rather than a five because the style is a bit dated and she sometimes jumps around from scene to scene a little abruptly.
This is a statement from her preface that describes her attitudes to her characters (mostly fictitious except for Erastus Snow, Brigham Young and a few others) and the early pioneers in general:
"Perhaps...it is natural for our generation to deify them. Perhaps because of the abuse they suffered for over half a century, it is natural for us even now to carry a chip on our shoulder toward the world - to lack a sense of humor regarding those who could not have survived without humor But I believe we detract from their achievement when we paint them with too white a brush. These people of whom I write are my people and I love them, but I believe that what they did becomes even greater when we face the fact that they were human beings by birth and only saints by adoption."
Her characters live up to her statement. They feel real, and imperfect, and all the more sympathetic.
This is a four star for me rather than a five because the style is a bit dated and she sometimes jumps around from scene to scene a little abruptly.
September 17, 2022
This book is a hot mess in the absolute best way possible. The romance is off the charts. The tragedy is even more off the charts. My jaw frequently dropped as I was reading it. Like all media from the 1940s, it feels vaguely like propaganda, but it's not entirely clear what for.
And now some thoughts:
In conclusion, good old Maureen really walks right up to the "and yet" line with this one and I respect her for it. Also, may I just say that Clory is the ugliest name I've ever heard.
And now some thoughts:
In conclusion, good old Maureen really walks right up to the "and yet" line with this one and I respect her for it. Also, may I just say that Clory is the ugliest name I've ever heard.
August 11, 2020
The Great Mormon Epic, a beautifully drawn symphony of a novel about the triumphs and tragedies of the pioneers in St. George, Utah from 1861 to the 1880s, published in 1941.
Please join us in the By Common Consent Summer Book Club, where we will be discussing "The Giant Joshua," two chapters a week for the next 8 weeks. There will be lots of interesting tidbits, including links to previously unpublished works, and background on what was going on with Maurine while she was writing.
https://bycommonconsent.com/2020/08/1...
BCC Press will all soon publish "A Craving for Beauty: The Lost Works of Maurine Whipple," edited by Veda Hale, Andrew Hall, and Lynne Larson. The volume contains over 450 pages of literary work by Maurine in her prime, most of which has never been published, including over 200 pages from "Cleave the Wood," her unfinished sequel to The Giant Joshua.
Please join us in the By Common Consent Summer Book Club, where we will be discussing "The Giant Joshua," two chapters a week for the next 8 weeks. There will be lots of interesting tidbits, including links to previously unpublished works, and background on what was going on with Maurine while she was writing.
https://bycommonconsent.com/2020/08/1...
BCC Press will all soon publish "A Craving for Beauty: The Lost Works of Maurine Whipple," edited by Veda Hale, Andrew Hall, and Lynne Larson. The volume contains over 450 pages of literary work by Maurine in her prime, most of which has never been published, including over 200 pages from "Cleave the Wood," her unfinished sequel to The Giant Joshua.
June 2, 2021
Reading this 600 page book and following along with the Book Club Posts at By Common Consent written by actual authors explaining each chapter, and what was happening in the author's life, was a pretty major undertaking, and worth every minute.
I would have quit at about page 150 if I hadn't found the online discussions. It's a long stinking book, and I was getting a little confused and weighed down with the old ideas about women, the despair of their lives, and sometimes the language of the author. (it was written in 1941). But I started reading the chapter commentaries and the book started to come alive for me.
By the end, I was crazy about all the characters, I loved the writing, and I was so glad I had invested the time.
I would have quit at about page 150 if I hadn't found the online discussions. It's a long stinking book, and I was getting a little confused and weighed down with the old ideas about women, the despair of their lives, and sometimes the language of the author. (it was written in 1941). But I started reading the chapter commentaries and the book started to come alive for me.
By the end, I was crazy about all the characters, I loved the writing, and I was so glad I had invested the time.
April 22, 2011
Do not attempt to read this book unless you are in the mood for an epic novel. My definition of 'epic' is: the book is really long and is set in a time long, long ago. Also, there will be quite a few times in which you say, "Huh? What is going on? Did [such and such] just happen or not?" You need to be prepared for a certain level of confusion and you will need to make assumptions on what actually happened because the language is archaic.
Aside from all those things, the book was really good. You might point out that I am slightly biased because this book was about polygamy (and the pioneers to settled St. George, Utah) and you probably have noticed that I LOVE BOOKS ABOUT POLYGAMY. Love, love, love them. And books about China. I probably would have given this 5 stars if it had been set in China.
Oh, and there is a moment toward the end of the book where one of the characters did something so unexpectedly and astonishingly despicable that I I actually yelled out, "DUDE! NO WAY! YOU A**HOLE!" Sadly, I was reading it in bed, under the covers with my flashlight, and my husband was asleep. He also strongly objects to bad language, plus I woke him up, therefore I'm pretty sure he'd give this book one star. But what this character did totally deserved some swearing. So, while the book itself didn't contain swearing (well, there was some pioneer swearing, like 'Oh skeedoodle!'), it might make you scream out. So, read it when your kids aren't around.
Aside from all those things, the book was really good. You might point out that I am slightly biased because this book was about polygamy (and the pioneers to settled St. George, Utah) and you probably have noticed that I LOVE BOOKS ABOUT POLYGAMY. Love, love, love them. And books about China. I probably would have given this 5 stars if it had been set in China.
Oh, and there is a moment toward the end of the book where one of the characters did something so unexpectedly and astonishingly despicable that I I actually yelled out, "DUDE! NO WAY! YOU A**HOLE!" Sadly, I was reading it in bed, under the covers with my flashlight, and my husband was asleep. He also strongly objects to bad language, plus I woke him up, therefore I'm pretty sure he'd give this book one star. But what this character did totally deserved some swearing. So, while the book itself didn't contain swearing (well, there was some pioneer swearing, like 'Oh skeedoodle!'), it might make you scream out. So, read it when your kids aren't around.
August 7, 2021
I am so glad I read this novel about early Mormon pioneers set in Saint George, Utah. Also, astonished that I’ve never heard of it before. Thanks Tracy, for the urging to read it!
I enjoyed the various viewpoints represented and thought there was a wide variety of motivations for enduring such hardships to settle a remote and unwelcoming land. I loved the depictions of landscapes that I know so well and thought Whipple did a great job of reminding the reader that along with gorgeous sunrises, storms, wide-open vistas and the call of coyotes came disease and dirt, pests and predators. I thought she wrote a heartfelt romance, and displayed a pragmatic and subtle sense of humor.
I liked the inclusion of Jacob Hamblin and Tutsegabbet. They came and went in interesting ways and I would read more about both of them. I also really liked Bathsheba. Her character was fierce, capable, superstitious and wily. Just the kind of woman you’d need if you were going to undertake such an impossible task as these poor souls.
I enjoyed the various viewpoints represented and thought there was a wide variety of motivations for enduring such hardships to settle a remote and unwelcoming land. I loved the depictions of landscapes that I know so well and thought Whipple did a great job of reminding the reader that along with gorgeous sunrises, storms, wide-open vistas and the call of coyotes came disease and dirt, pests and predators. I thought she wrote a heartfelt romance, and displayed a pragmatic and subtle sense of humor.
I liked the inclusion of Jacob Hamblin and Tutsegabbet. They came and went in interesting ways and I would read more about both of them. I also really liked Bathsheba. Her character was fierce, capable, superstitious and wily. Just the kind of woman you’d need if you were going to undertake such an impossible task as these poor souls.
August 13, 2009
Whipple is a talented, under-appreciated author. I appreciated her writing even more on this, my second reading. I think it's fascinating to imagine life in plural marriage as Clory, 'Sheba, or Willie. I think my favorite scene is the wagon tip. Whipple does show different families with varying attitudes toward plural marriage, but her disgruntled feelings toward the Church in general and its male leaders seep through the story at multiple points. I'll definitely read it again someday, although I do hunger to read others' histories of the settling of St. George.
December 14, 2012
My mom gave me this book to read and I threw it on my bookshelf and forgot about it. I ran out of things to read so I picked it up just for something to get me to the next day when I could a book I really wanted to read. I couldn't put it down. It was really interesting to read about the Mormon woman of those days. That would be a very hard life. I couldn't have survived it! I would like to read it again. A very good read.
April 12, 2024
This devastated me to read in the sense that it hit very very close to home. I am a daughter of southern Utah. My ancestors settled the area. I grew up with fondness and reverence for my pioneer ancestors. As a child, I took part of local productions for a musical called “So This is Dixie”. It was super cheesy and detailed the settling of the area and specifically the lives of Erastus Snow’s wives. I grew up making excuses for Mormon polygamy and the mountain Meadow massacre this book outlines what it was like to live as a Mormon woman in a polygamous marriage and Maureen Whipple drew from over 100 diaries and collections to write this. It filled me with pride, but also heartbreak and anger for what my foremothers had to go through.
February 19, 2023
Actually I found most of this sad, and realistic, about what I understand how the pioneers felt and practiced polygamy. I believe the women really got the short end of the stick. But they believed they were trying to live a celestial principal, (which I don't believe to be true.)
Very well written and most likely well researched. I believe this was controversial because it is such a realistic look at polygamy.
Also, this helped me to love and respect the pioneers for everything they accomplished in such brutal conditions. Especially the saints who went down to the St. George area.
Started the book last summer in Florida. Was going to go back to Florida eight weeks later so I didn't worry that I hadn't finished it. But then I had my mild stroke and didn't pick it up for another four months. I had forgotten quite a bit.
Very well written and most likely well researched. I believe this was controversial because it is such a realistic look at polygamy.
Also, this helped me to love and respect the pioneers for everything they accomplished in such brutal conditions. Especially the saints who went down to the St. George area.
Started the book last summer in Florida. Was going to go back to Florida eight weeks later so I didn't worry that I hadn't finished it. But then I had my mild stroke and didn't pick it up for another four months. I had forgotten quite a bit.
December 23, 2025
A difficult read about life as a Mormon pioneer woman and polygamist wife. Clory did not deserve the life she got-her joy and light seemed to slowly die throughout the book.
December 29, 2010
Picked up a used copy at Doc's Book Loft in St. George, Utah, on 6/16/09. Read it over one week in February, when a cold kept me laying low for several days. This is a "hidden gem" of Utah history and Mormon culture (speaking as an outsider). I think it a "must read" for those of living in Utah, but not of the local faith.
The book is based upon a long, long list of historical documents and archives. It is told primarily from the perspective of the MacIntyre family, and particularly from that of the third polygamist wife, Clory. It starts in 1861 as Brother MacIntyre is leading a pioneer party of about 12 families into what we now call St. George, but was then the Dixie Mission. They were sent by Brigham Young to join Apostle Erasmus Snow to start up a cotton farming and production industry in the milder climates of Southern Utah. Given that the United States was at war with the Southern states, a new source of cotton production would prove beneficial to the Union and to the growing Utah territory...the leaders of which were trying to achieve statehood.
The story flows mostly quickly; at sometimes difficult to read as Whipple inserts direct quotations from historical documents into the prose and into the character's dialogue. But once I got used to that, I was caught up in the family dynamic, the persistence of the saints, and the hardscrabble life that created what is now a lovely get-away community.
Why is this a "must read"? Reading this book during Utah's annual 45-day legislative session, there were so many points of connection. The names, for one. The names of legislators now serving show that they are direct descendents to early pioneers -- a nuance that I, an outside, would not aware of. The conflict between a church culture that desires to take care of one another and yet a belief that "God helps those who help themselves" created tension in the Dixie Mission as it does in current state politics and policies. The conflict between desire to be a part of the great United States of America and yet at the same time not wanting the long arm of the government in local policies, beliefs and practices.
The fear and resentment of being tarred and feathered, murdered, and sent away from other places that the pioneers had called home. And the real and memorable sacrifices made by early pioneers to create the thriving communities that now make up the great state of Utah. As a "gentile" who moved into that state AFTER the great sacrifices were made and without a sense of history, I can see why the blending of the state demographics can be seen as threatening or at least undesirable. All of these themes play out in everyday life in Utah today, I'd say. Reading this compelling history has helped me notice new things that I think I was missing before. And I don't think I've ended up as an apologist for the local founding culture as much as more aware of the complexities.
And then there is polygamy. I'd say that Whipple gives a realistic view into "plural marriage" -- though how it compares to HBO's popular "Big Love", I can't say as I gave up on that in the first season. Bottom line: couldn't have been easy, there was a great pressure to live up to an ideal put forth by church leaders that, even in their households, must have been far from easy. And, when plural marriage was sacrificed in order to gain statehood, the prognosis for the extra wives and families was not good. This was not an easy life!
The most lyrical part of the book is a little penultimate chapter put in right before the close in which [SPOILER ALERT:] an ancestor of Clory is looking through the St. George Daughter of Pioneers Museum and looking at the treasured objects of the pioneers, subjects in the book. After travelling through 400+ pages, the reader has the knowledge of how those objects were symbols of the life that the pioneers had left behind and were striving to recreate in the desert of Zion. Object of faith, in essence.
Of the 258 museums in Utah, half are these community-based, volunteer-run "DUP" museums. I've been in several of them and they can seem like dusty little store rooms of people's grandparents' "stuff". This little chapter, within the context of this great tale, created a connection between those leftover artifacts -- and the blue-haired ladies who run these museums -- with the great vision and incredible personal sacrifice that created the place that I and my family now call home. As a non-Mormon I finished the book with a deeper understanding, appreciation, and, yes, compassion for all that had gone before.
The book is based upon a long, long list of historical documents and archives. It is told primarily from the perspective of the MacIntyre family, and particularly from that of the third polygamist wife, Clory. It starts in 1861 as Brother MacIntyre is leading a pioneer party of about 12 families into what we now call St. George, but was then the Dixie Mission. They were sent by Brigham Young to join Apostle Erasmus Snow to start up a cotton farming and production industry in the milder climates of Southern Utah. Given that the United States was at war with the Southern states, a new source of cotton production would prove beneficial to the Union and to the growing Utah territory...the leaders of which were trying to achieve statehood.
The story flows mostly quickly; at sometimes difficult to read as Whipple inserts direct quotations from historical documents into the prose and into the character's dialogue. But once I got used to that, I was caught up in the family dynamic, the persistence of the saints, and the hardscrabble life that created what is now a lovely get-away community.
Why is this a "must read"? Reading this book during Utah's annual 45-day legislative session, there were so many points of connection. The names, for one. The names of legislators now serving show that they are direct descendents to early pioneers -- a nuance that I, an outside, would not aware of. The conflict between a church culture that desires to take care of one another and yet a belief that "God helps those who help themselves" created tension in the Dixie Mission as it does in current state politics and policies. The conflict between desire to be a part of the great United States of America and yet at the same time not wanting the long arm of the government in local policies, beliefs and practices.
The fear and resentment of being tarred and feathered, murdered, and sent away from other places that the pioneers had called home. And the real and memorable sacrifices made by early pioneers to create the thriving communities that now make up the great state of Utah. As a "gentile" who moved into that state AFTER the great sacrifices were made and without a sense of history, I can see why the blending of the state demographics can be seen as threatening or at least undesirable. All of these themes play out in everyday life in Utah today, I'd say. Reading this compelling history has helped me notice new things that I think I was missing before. And I don't think I've ended up as an apologist for the local founding culture as much as more aware of the complexities.
And then there is polygamy. I'd say that Whipple gives a realistic view into "plural marriage" -- though how it compares to HBO's popular "Big Love", I can't say as I gave up on that in the first season. Bottom line: couldn't have been easy, there was a great pressure to live up to an ideal put forth by church leaders that, even in their households, must have been far from easy. And, when plural marriage was sacrificed in order to gain statehood, the prognosis for the extra wives and families was not good. This was not an easy life!
The most lyrical part of the book is a little penultimate chapter put in right before the close in which [SPOILER ALERT:] an ancestor of Clory is looking through the St. George Daughter of Pioneers Museum and looking at the treasured objects of the pioneers, subjects in the book. After travelling through 400+ pages, the reader has the knowledge of how those objects were symbols of the life that the pioneers had left behind and were striving to recreate in the desert of Zion. Object of faith, in essence.
Of the 258 museums in Utah, half are these community-based, volunteer-run "DUP" museums. I've been in several of them and they can seem like dusty little store rooms of people's grandparents' "stuff". This little chapter, within the context of this great tale, created a connection between those leftover artifacts -- and the blue-haired ladies who run these museums -- with the great vision and incredible personal sacrifice that created the place that I and my family now call home. As a non-Mormon I finished the book with a deeper understanding, appreciation, and, yes, compassion for all that had gone before.
December 23, 2020
It came time for the third renewal from the library, and I was still only 40% through the book. It was time to return it. Was hoping to see what happened with the main character, but I couldn't do it anymore. Sorry Clory.
I had picked up this book because A History of Washington County: From Isolation to Destination refers to it as the greatest piece of fiction written by a Washington County resident. I recognize this book was written in 1941, and was written for a particular audience in mind, and I am not part of any of those intended demographics.
The spousal rape on page 98 really grossed me out, especially when the scene ended with Clory accepting it as her duty as a wife. What frustrates me just as much are all the reviews of this book that frame it as such beautiful nostalgia of the "good ol' days." It would be nice to live in a patriarchal socialist theocracy. The pioneers did have a hard time, but it was not an era to look back at fondly. To remember, yes, to want to go back, no. But its also not my heritage.
It did open my eyes to the presence of slavery in Utah and the Dixie Mission. I've heard the typical reasons for the use of the name "Dixie" being growing cotton and being in southern Utah. Turns out it was a center of Confederate sympathies. The author's view of the Cotton Mission was it wasn't them that supported the CSA, but those folks over in Washington City. Having enslaved people in Utah kinda tarnishes that whole "We are a persecuted people that moved to the desert to get away from those that were out to get us and we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps in an austere landscape," image cultivated by LDS culture.
So unless you are hardcore into historical fiction or LDS pioneer history, don't read this.
I had picked up this book because A History of Washington County: From Isolation to Destination refers to it as the greatest piece of fiction written by a Washington County resident. I recognize this book was written in 1941, and was written for a particular audience in mind, and I am not part of any of those intended demographics.
The spousal rape on page 98 really grossed me out, especially when the scene ended with Clory accepting it as her duty as a wife. What frustrates me just as much are all the reviews of this book that frame it as such beautiful nostalgia of the "good ol' days." It would be nice to live in a patriarchal socialist theocracy. The pioneers did have a hard time, but it was not an era to look back at fondly. To remember, yes, to want to go back, no. But its also not my heritage.
It did open my eyes to the presence of slavery in Utah and the Dixie Mission. I've heard the typical reasons for the use of the name "Dixie" being growing cotton and being in southern Utah. Turns out it was a center of Confederate sympathies. The author's view of the Cotton Mission was it wasn't them that supported the CSA, but those folks over in Washington City. Having enslaved people in Utah kinda tarnishes that whole "We are a persecuted people that moved to the desert to get away from those that were out to get us and we pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps in an austere landscape," image cultivated by LDS culture.
So unless you are hardcore into historical fiction or LDS pioneer history, don't read this.
August 17, 2018
Given that it took me over a year to finish this tome, I sort of feel like I understand the pioneer epic more closely. I found this very randomly, but as a newcomer to Utah, it felt appropriate to read the classic Mormon pioneer novel. It was slow at times, especially near the start, but I'm really pleased I stayed with it. The writing actually seemed to improve as the author kept going.
The characters were well-developed and the struggles were real. It felt like the author had done a lot of historical research. This book focuses on pioneers in St. George, and the main character struggles throughout the entire novel with her Mormon faith and polygamous life. I expected the author to be defending and glorifying everything Mormon, but instead she takes a more balanced approach, readily showing the downsides and struggles as well as motivations and joys.
Being a pioneer was effing hard. This book really lets you feel that. Nothing was fair. No one won. Everyone suffered. Only the resilient survived. The novel had a reflection of Scarlett from Gone with the Wind throughout it.
The characters were well-developed and the struggles were real. It felt like the author had done a lot of historical research. This book focuses on pioneers in St. George, and the main character struggles throughout the entire novel with her Mormon faith and polygamous life. I expected the author to be defending and glorifying everything Mormon, but instead she takes a more balanced approach, readily showing the downsides and struggles as well as motivations and joys.
Being a pioneer was effing hard. This book really lets you feel that. Nothing was fair. No one won. Everyone suffered. Only the resilient survived. The novel had a reflection of Scarlett from Gone with the Wind throughout it.
September 11, 2008
My friend asked me to read this book so that she could have someone to "process" it with. It's a really interesting book. It's a historical fiction novel about a polygamous family that was sent to colonize St. George--the cotton mission. The author's writing style is different and a bit difficult to follow (I think it was written in the 1940s?). She shows many views of polygamy and how hard it was for the saints who practiced it. I found it really interesting because I live in St. George and I benefit now from all their early sacrifices. She talked a lot about the flooding, alkaline soil, and heat. All of which I deal with just trying to keep our lawn alive...so to a very small degree I understood a little about what they dealt with. I'm really grateful that polygamy was abolished and I don't have deal with it. I only recommend this if you have a lot of time on your hands and you are really interested in learning more about the early St. George saints and polygamy.
May 17, 2013
This book is an excellent read about the early settlers, especially polygamists in St. George, Utah. Maurine Whipple does an extraordinary job telling the story from Clorinda's point of view.
August 29, 2020
How is it possible that I was an English major at BYU and never read The Giant Joshua? Well, I've read it now -- all 600+ pages. And I can see why it's called the great Mormon epic. Maruine Whipple can really write, and the pictures she paints are compelling -- and often painful. It's just so hard to imagine how those pioneers could stop in a barren, hot, dry, harsh wasteland and decide to establish a community there. Why did they agree to do it? And how did they manage? I was willing to wade through all the droughts, plagues, floods, starvation, death, and more -- for some insight. I definitely gained knowledge. I loved that the author incorporated so much folklore and foodways. However, as I turned the last page, it was with a sense of both sadness and frustration. I suppose that it was too naive and unrealistic to hope for any kind of happy ending, but this seemed like an example of "Life is hard, and then you die." In retrospect, I realized that I didn't love -- or even admire -- any of the characters. Some made me want to scream; others just made me sad. I was hoping for some kind of redemption.
January 7, 2023
A really powerful, painful, and deeply feminist coming of age story about an underage girl pressured into a becoming a third wife in a polygamous Mormon pioneer family. The first third was great, but at some point around the halfway mark, the plot started devolving into more of "discovery writing" which I really cannot stand. Makes sense as this was originally a novella that was expanded into a full-on epic. Anyway, DNF but got to about 70%.
I don't think any character in the novel actually espoused this view, and I'm not sure what the author's proclaimed thoughts were, but the overall message of this book is undeniably "CRUSH THE PATRIARCHY" which I appreciated.
I don't think any character in the novel actually espoused this view, and I'm not sure what the author's proclaimed thoughts were, but the overall message of this book is undeniably "CRUSH THE PATRIARCHY" which I appreciated.
January 11, 2023
This book made me upset. I felt that the wives were left to fend for themselves. Polygamy is not an ideal situation, ideal being spouses as equal partners. I have come to a peace about the history of polygamy in Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe that #1, God needed the population to grow exponentially; and #2 God asks His people to do hard things sometimes that are for the greater good: the ultimate blessing of His people; and #3, a lot of good people came from these polygamous families. I am one of them.
October 21, 2018
I read this book because of its high ratings. It didn't take long to realize that the author was a disenfranchized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The history was very interesting; I always enjoy learning about my pioneer ancestors' possible circumstances. But I thought Whipple was mocking members of The Church with the caricatures she created in The Giant Joshua.
June 1, 2020
A lot of the book was just ok. A few parts were better. A lot of the known historical fiction did not add up when I fact checked it. That was a problem for me. Mostly I felt uninspired. A little bit like the author was venting her own frustrations. Every once in a while there was a glint of greatness.
October 7, 2020
I'm still mulling this over and don't quite have words yet. It was a stunning, raw, deeply personal look at the pioneering efforts to settle the unforgiving and unrelenting Dixie mission in the late 1800s. Heartbreaking. Inspiring. And so very very beautifully written.
November 25, 2020
The strangest book ever. I did skim and finish because I wanted to know what happens to Clory, but such a weird writing style. For being a historical novel there are a lot of things that are incorrect. Perhaps I'm to modern, but the way the women were treated by this author I find appalling.
January 8, 2022
Read this book if you would like insight into what it was like to be among the earliest pioneers in Utah's Dixie (i.e., St. George). I found it especially interesting in light of the fact I have spent a lot of time in present day St. George.
October 20, 2022
A beautiful epic story. A very rare glimpse of being a pioneer from a woman's perspective.
This book does a wonderful job of pointing out beauty and barbarity that occurs in the desert and in the Mormon religion. Wonderful prose, great imagery of this interesting piece of the world.
This book does a wonderful job of pointing out beauty and barbarity that occurs in the desert and in the Mormon religion. Wonderful prose, great imagery of this interesting piece of the world.
March 13, 2018
Great book with lots of church history. I love the honesty of the pioneers struggles. I only docked it one star because I hated the way it ended.
May 5, 2018
I didn't actually finish this. I got through the first chapter, but was so disallusioned by her ability to find beauty in humans with whom she disagreed, I gave it up.
June 26, 2020
Extremely interesting historical fiction about the settling of St George, Utah. A look at this era of Mormon history and insight into polygamy of the day.
October 4, 2020
Read this 30 + years ago. It was disturbing then and remains so. But it's a remarkable achievement nevertheless.
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