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Belle o' the Waters
Belle Waters is about to celebrate her fourteenth birthday, and she is terrified. The fear of marriage looms large for her, and every other girl who was born into the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake in the 1850's. She knows it is her duty to marry and bring Heavenly Father's children into the world, but she's not interested in tying the knot with anyone, especially not the Prophet, an old man with a number of wives and counting. But when the US Army invades Salt Lake intent on arresting the Prophet, Belle soon realizes that the possibility of becoming a child bride is only the beginning in a series of disastrous threats. This is a work of fiction, but is loosely based on a true historical the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, which sparked a short-lived Mormon War. Although set over a century ago, the themes and issues explored in this novel are timely and religious freedom and extremism, the role and status of women in society, and the contemporary impact of homegrown terrorism. Belle o' the Waters is a searing exploration of those living within an oppressed community, and an ultimately revelatory novel about what it means to lead a courageous life, despite one s circumstances.
336 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2019
About the author
Raima Larter
25 books35 followersRaima Larter is a writer and scientist. A former college professor and government scientist, she is the author of numerous short stories, three novels, and the popular science book, "Spiritual Insights from the New Science: Complex Systems and Life," published by World Scientific in 2021. Her newest novel is "The Kiss Catastrophe," published in 2024. Raima's first novel, "Fearless," was published by New Meridian Arts Press in February, 2019. Her second novel, "Belle o' the Waters" was published by Mascot Books in April, 2019. Her short stories have been nominated for awards, including the Pushcart Prize. Raima authors the blog, Complexity Simplified, covering topics from science to religion and spirituality and also contributes articles about scientific discoveries to the American Institute of Physics website and other online publications. She has two short story collections, “The Gate of Heaven and Other Story Worlds,” published in 2012, and "Motherhood and Other Magical Realms," published in 2022.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 18, 2019
BLURB
Belle Waters is about to celebrate her fourteenth birthday, and she is terrified. The fear of marriage looms large for her, and every other girl who was born into the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake in the 1850s. She knows it is her duty to marry and bring Heavenly Father’s children into the world, but she’s not interested in tying the knot with anyone—especially not the Prophet, an old man with a number of wives and counting. But when the US Army invades Salt Lake intent on arresting the Prophet, Belle soon realizes that the possibility of becoming a child bride is only the beginning in a series of disastrous threats.
Belle o’ the Waters is a work of fiction, but is loosely based on a true historical event: the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, which sparked a short-lived Mormon War. Although set over a century ago, the themes and issues explored in this novel are extremely relevant to the modern age: religious freedom and extremism, the role and status of women in society, and the contemporary impact of homegrown terrorism. Belle o’ the Waters is a searing exploration of those living within an oppressed community, and an ultimately revelatory novel about what it means to lead a courageous life, despite one’s circumstances.
REVIEW
A fascinating tale of the courage of a young Mormon girl in the face of some pretty daunting circumstances. The author has crafted a tale of survival in a landscape filled with a natural world both beautiful and dangerous, and a religious calling even more dangerous. Strong, believable characters, a creatively imaginative story line, and a look at a time and place in American history imbued with an iconoclastic mystery, Belle o' the Waters had me hooked from page one. I especially enjoyed the use of Belle's journal entries during the tale as they bring into focus the intense situations that arise during her life, and without spoiling anything, she faces much that would break many fourteen year old girls on the verge of womanhood. A page turning delight, with requisite pauses to catch one's breath, awaits you dear reader. Prepare to be entertained, and perhaps maybe even educated a little about an oft overlooked piece of American History. 4 Stars
Belle Waters is about to celebrate her fourteenth birthday, and she is terrified. The fear of marriage looms large for her, and every other girl who was born into the Mormon settlement of Salt Lake in the 1850s. She knows it is her duty to marry and bring Heavenly Father’s children into the world, but she’s not interested in tying the knot with anyone—especially not the Prophet, an old man with a number of wives and counting. But when the US Army invades Salt Lake intent on arresting the Prophet, Belle soon realizes that the possibility of becoming a child bride is only the beginning in a series of disastrous threats.
Belle o’ the Waters is a work of fiction, but is loosely based on a true historical event: the Mountain Meadows Massacre of September 11, 1857, which sparked a short-lived Mormon War. Although set over a century ago, the themes and issues explored in this novel are extremely relevant to the modern age: religious freedom and extremism, the role and status of women in society, and the contemporary impact of homegrown terrorism. Belle o’ the Waters is a searing exploration of those living within an oppressed community, and an ultimately revelatory novel about what it means to lead a courageous life, despite one’s circumstances.
REVIEW
A fascinating tale of the courage of a young Mormon girl in the face of some pretty daunting circumstances. The author has crafted a tale of survival in a landscape filled with a natural world both beautiful and dangerous, and a religious calling even more dangerous. Strong, believable characters, a creatively imaginative story line, and a look at a time and place in American history imbued with an iconoclastic mystery, Belle o' the Waters had me hooked from page one. I especially enjoyed the use of Belle's journal entries during the tale as they bring into focus the intense situations that arise during her life, and without spoiling anything, she faces much that would break many fourteen year old girls on the verge of womanhood. A page turning delight, with requisite pauses to catch one's breath, awaits you dear reader. Prepare to be entertained, and perhaps maybe even educated a little about an oft overlooked piece of American History. 4 Stars
July 17, 2019
Compelling read. Women writing their personal histories is essential to balancing the inaccuracies and skew to male history. I encourage and teach women to use every means available to them to tell their stories and the stories of their mothers and grandmothers. This is how we learn and reclaim both voice and action.
Yes, this is a novel. But it is also a cumulative biography. No one woman lived Belle Water's life, but many lived large portions of lives dauntingly similar to Belle's. Raima Larter dedicated this book to her grandmother. We can only suspect that many of the personal details of real women's intimate lives were conveyed along frontier and Mormon family narratives to which Raima was privy as she grew up in Idaho. Historical detail in this work has been carefully researched, as well as thoughtfully and accurately placed, as pivotal plot points.
This care and thought in no way compromises the page-turning adventure in Belle of the Waters and the emotional investment the reader finds herself having made after only the briefest of forays into the lives, loves, and losses of the polygamous Water's family.
While for the most part set in the decade immediately preceding the Civil War, the story of women having to make the best lives possible for themselves based on and often in spite of decisions men made that dismantled any comfort women might have achieved through community stability and family support.
Just a few of the timeless themes found in Belle of the Waters :
- patriarchy
- racial and religious bias against "the other"
- blind obedience versus the abeyance of reason
- development of a "protective" frontier mindset
- the construction and power of women's networks
- women and writing: letters, journals, and community history
- the tenuous nature of repositories of accumulated information
The tender coverage of life's mileposts such as falling in love, and losing those we love, as well as intimate violence, incest, mental and emotional instability, and other harsh realities make this a book inappropriate for younger juvenile readership. But the mature high school student might find this an instructive history of parts of the American story that are ignored or glossed over by traditional texts.
The Missouri "Extermination Order," the exodus from Illinois after Mormonism's founder's death, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, the scarcity of women in the early expansion of the US west because of trapping, mining, and escape from oppression all provide a backdrop to the main storyline that illuminates the co-influence of cultural beliefs and place.
I highly recommend Raima Larter's Belle of the Waters>.
This is the story of women having to make the best lives possible for themselves based on, and in spite of, decisions made by men.
Yes, this is a novel. But it is also a cumulative biography. No one woman lived Belle Water's life, but many lived large portions of lives dauntingly similar to Belle's. Raima Larter dedicated this book to her grandmother. We can only suspect that many of the personal details of real women's intimate lives were conveyed along frontier and Mormon family narratives to which Raima was privy as she grew up in Idaho. Historical detail in this work has been carefully researched, as well as thoughtfully and accurately placed, as pivotal plot points.
This care and thought in no way compromises the page-turning adventure in Belle of the Waters and the emotional investment the reader finds herself having made after only the briefest of forays into the lives, loves, and losses of the polygamous Water's family.
While for the most part set in the decade immediately preceding the Civil War, the story of women having to make the best lives possible for themselves based on and often in spite of decisions men made that dismantled any comfort women might have achieved through community stability and family support.
Just a few of the timeless themes found in Belle of the Waters :
- patriarchy
- racial and religious bias against "the other"
- blind obedience versus the abeyance of reason
- development of a "protective" frontier mindset
- the construction and power of women's networks
- women and writing: letters, journals, and community history
- the tenuous nature of repositories of accumulated information
The tender coverage of life's mileposts such as falling in love, and losing those we love, as well as intimate violence, incest, mental and emotional instability, and other harsh realities make this a book inappropriate for younger juvenile readership. But the mature high school student might find this an instructive history of parts of the American story that are ignored or glossed over by traditional texts.
The Missouri "Extermination Order," the exodus from Illinois after Mormonism's founder's death, The Mountain Meadows Massacre, the scarcity of women in the early expansion of the US west because of trapping, mining, and escape from oppression all provide a backdrop to the main storyline that illuminates the co-influence of cultural beliefs and place.
I highly recommend Raima Larter's Belle of the Waters>.
May 27, 2019
Larter has crafted a compelling story, built upon the bones of real events that occurred in the territories now known as Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Coincidentally, when I picked up this novel, I had just finished reading Fawn Brodie’s history of Joseph Smith, No One Knows My History, so the important background information about the Mormon emigration from Nauvoo to the Great Salt Lake region was fresh in my mind.
This novel goes beyond the facts and fables of early Mormon faith to probe the minds and hearts of individuals caught up in Mormon fever in the mid-19th century. Perhaps Larter’s family history softens what all too often becomes either preachy defense or strident criticism of the patriarchal and narrow views of LDS founders. She presents her characters as real, rounded individuals. We like and trust the father figure, even though his multiple marriages open him to criticism. Through his first wife, Belle’s momma, we gain understanding into the lives of sister wives and how that all works out—sometimes, anyway.
But Larter skillfully moves the story in shocking directions and we see the unraveling of the family patriarch. Perhaps it was the pressure of trying to fulfill the requirements of being sole provider for and minister to his flock/family. Perhaps it was simply his human character flaw, but his logic takes an abrupt and unforgivable turn. The novel is well-paced and held my interest right up to the end.
Larter’s research background as a scientist serves her well as she explores less written-of topics, like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the geological events that upend the geography of a region straddling the Teton fault.
I was not fond of the use of expository present tense. The events clearly happened in the past and the narrative is compelling enough to keep the reader engaged. Journal entries are a great tool to show a character’s thinking and feeling as events happen. But we get the same type of information from the narrative, so why bother with the journal? For me it was jarring to read dated journal entries that were rightfully in the present tense scattered between long sections of present tense expository narrative. The two types of narrative were typographically identified with italics used for the journal entries, but I was disturbed by the shift between journal and diary because the language of both seemed too similar.
I also suspect that a bit tighter editing might have removed grammatical inconsistencies within the journal entries. For example, on December 1st, we read, “so he aint’ been able to get out there to make or count notches for awhile.” That sounds quite natural for a 14-year-old girl with limited formal education. But a week later, her language looks impeccable: “The ground is too hard right now to bury him properly.” Better editing would also have cleared up repeated misuse of the word "lay" and a few other minor flaws.
This novel goes beyond the facts and fables of early Mormon faith to probe the minds and hearts of individuals caught up in Mormon fever in the mid-19th century. Perhaps Larter’s family history softens what all too often becomes either preachy defense or strident criticism of the patriarchal and narrow views of LDS founders. She presents her characters as real, rounded individuals. We like and trust the father figure, even though his multiple marriages open him to criticism. Through his first wife, Belle’s momma, we gain understanding into the lives of sister wives and how that all works out—sometimes, anyway.
But Larter skillfully moves the story in shocking directions and we see the unraveling of the family patriarch. Perhaps it was the pressure of trying to fulfill the requirements of being sole provider for and minister to his flock/family. Perhaps it was simply his human character flaw, but his logic takes an abrupt and unforgivable turn. The novel is well-paced and held my interest right up to the end.
Larter’s research background as a scientist serves her well as she explores less written-of topics, like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the geological events that upend the geography of a region straddling the Teton fault.
I was not fond of the use of expository present tense. The events clearly happened in the past and the narrative is compelling enough to keep the reader engaged. Journal entries are a great tool to show a character’s thinking and feeling as events happen. But we get the same type of information from the narrative, so why bother with the journal? For me it was jarring to read dated journal entries that were rightfully in the present tense scattered between long sections of present tense expository narrative. The two types of narrative were typographically identified with italics used for the journal entries, but I was disturbed by the shift between journal and diary because the language of both seemed too similar.
I also suspect that a bit tighter editing might have removed grammatical inconsistencies within the journal entries. For example, on December 1st, we read, “so he aint’ been able to get out there to make or count notches for awhile.” That sounds quite natural for a 14-year-old girl with limited formal education. But a week later, her language looks impeccable: “The ground is too hard right now to bury him properly.” Better editing would also have cleared up repeated misuse of the word "lay" and a few other minor flaws.
April 13, 2019
Set in the 1850’s American West, this well-written novel is a coming-of-age story for its main character, Belle. In a broader sense, it’s about an isolated patriarchal community where religion is a tool for tyranny and worse. Both aspects are fascinating and beautifully told. In addition to the Mormon patriarch’s whims, the community (mostly courageous sister-wives and their children) struggles against the wild and unforgiving landscape. Friendly Native American women and non-Mormon pioneers also play their parts. There are characters to love and characters to hate. But even the ones you don’t like, you see their humanity and appreciate what drives them. After reading the book, you’ll feel as if you were right there in Big Spring with them.
The plot hums right along to a satisfying conclusion. I felt the author handled the religious and cultural aspects with sensitivity and respect. For me, the novel represented the best that historical fiction offers: a poignant personal story enmeshed in an interesting, vividly-described setting with themes that still matter today. So, in summary, it’s an excellent well-told story! Highly recommended.
The plot hums right along to a satisfying conclusion. I felt the author handled the religious and cultural aspects with sensitivity and respect. For me, the novel represented the best that historical fiction offers: a poignant personal story enmeshed in an interesting, vividly-described setting with themes that still matter today. So, in summary, it’s an excellent well-told story! Highly recommended.
July 4, 2019
We meet Belle as a Mormon woman in her fifties who discovers a diary she wrote in the months before turning 14. Most of the remaining story is her backward look at those months in her teens, which were crammed full of adventures. Belle is the oldest child in a family with more than 20 children among the four sister-wives of her father. In the early months of the diary, the family lives in Salt Lake City, but they leave, at the request of the Prophet, to settle in Idaho and build a new community. Since the Prophet had made overtures toward taking Belle as his nth wife and she and her mother hated the idea, this departure was a relief to most of the family. Their small wagon train to Idaho has another family with a son just the right age, and the two teens fall in love. The progress of building a new community—and Belle’s growing love for her Daniel—is fraught with snags, not the least of which are Belle getting pregnant, an earthquake that kills her mother, and the increasing craziness of her father who thinks Belle should become his next sister-wife. Thankfully, it all works out well.
I found this a rollicking good story. The character of Belle is a great model of a young woman managing extraordinarily well in circumstances that strive to hold her back from realizing her dreams. All the many characters are well drawn, well named for the time period, and realistic. I didn’t have a need for the preface with Belle discovering the diary; I’d have been fine meeting the young Belle and taking the story from there. However, that’s a minor issue in this historical novel about a time I knew little of, until now.
I found this a rollicking good story. The character of Belle is a great model of a young woman managing extraordinarily well in circumstances that strive to hold her back from realizing her dreams. All the many characters are well drawn, well named for the time period, and realistic. I didn’t have a need for the preface with Belle discovering the diary; I’d have been fine meeting the young Belle and taking the story from there. However, that’s a minor issue in this historical novel about a time I knew little of, until now.
May 19, 2019
This book is based on a true historical event. The event took place on September 11, 1857. It is called the Mountain Meadows Massacre. I was not familar with this event so I started to do a little research of my own. The Mountain Meadows Massare per the LDS website is: “On September 11, 1857, some 50 to 60 local militiamen in southern Utah, aided by some American indian[s], massacred about 120 emigrants who were traveling by wagon to California. The horrific crime, which spared only 17 children age six and under, occurred in a highland valley called the Mountain Meadows, roughly 35 miles southwest of Cedar City. The victims, most of them from Arkansas, were on their way to California with dreams of a bright future” (Richard E. Turley Jr., “The Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Ensign, Sept. 2007). Since I am a historian I am always intrigued by books based on events. The author did her research. I felt that I was learning a lot from her book. This story is about a young Mormon girl who has a lot of courage. The characters are well written and the storyline flows nicely. This is the first book I have read by this author. I really enjoyed it
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Mascot Books, all thoughts are my own.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Mascot Books, all thoughts are my own.
March 16, 2019
This was an interesting book that held my curiosity clear through to the end. It features an different sort of people, the Mormons, in a time period where women didn't have the rights we do today. Your heart goes out to Belle, who seems hopelessly caught in the unfairness of a culture that gives her no voice. Yet, through her heart wrenching journey, an empowering message shines through.
November 12, 2021
Finding this haRd to rate. I like to support first time, independent authors. As someone from the area in which the book is situated I struggle with her lack of setting. Apparently the only location in SLC is Echo Canyon? Mentioned several times but nothing else there. Family travels through what is now craters of the moon. Why not included a map? The town they settle in is fictional but the other locations are not.
The character of Erastus was so frustrating. No discussion of how he descends into madness. Most of the other characters are one-sided and the reconciliation between Silas and Maggie makes zero sense.
Also the blurb on it makes it seems about the Mountain Meadow Massacre but that’s only incidental to the story. It’s really a story of the settlement of a (fictional) Idaho town.
Finally the author claims she is familiar with Mormon culture, but I disagree, especially when she includes “what in Heavenly Father’s name?” As an expression. Nope. That still would’ve been considered blasphemous.
The character of Erastus was so frustrating. No discussion of how he descends into madness. Most of the other characters are one-sided and the reconciliation between Silas and Maggie makes zero sense.
Also the blurb on it makes it seems about the Mountain Meadow Massacre but that’s only incidental to the story. It’s really a story of the settlement of a (fictional) Idaho town.
Finally the author claims she is familiar with Mormon culture, but I disagree, especially when she includes “what in Heavenly Father’s name?” As an expression. Nope. That still would’ve been considered blasphemous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2020
popsugar challenge 2020: read a bildungsroman
read harder challenge 2020: read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII
reading women challenge 2o20: read a book published by a favorite or new-to-you publisher
read harder challenge 2020: read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII
reading women challenge 2o20: read a book published by a favorite or new-to-you publisher
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews