The 19th Wife

The 19th Wife
by David Ebershoff

This work of historical fiction had my attention from the very start. The author cleverly wrote two books in one, telling the story of Brigham Young's 19th wife, Ann Eliza and relating a current day polygamist tale of murder in Southern Utah. Switching effortlessly between stories Ebershoff held my attention in both the past and present day stories.

I applaud the research done by Ebershoff in preparation of writing this book. Indeed, I was surprised to learn that he resides in New York and not in Utah among the people and landscape of which he writes.

Having lived in Utah for three years and longing to move back there, I was personally entertained by the details which corresponded to my life in Utah. Young Ann Eliza's mother lived in Cottonwood. I so clearly remember looking at an incredible home in Cottonwood while house hunting. It was an average neighborhood and even an average house, but the owner was a concrete contractor and had one amazing things inside the house with concrete. Six years later I still recall that house with a bit of awe.

Mention of the local papers in Brigham Young's day referred to the Tribune and the Deseret. I made the assumption that the reference was historical fact which took me by surprise as those two newspapers exist still today. They are delivered in different colored plastic sleeves. You can tell walking through your neighborhood which homes subscribe to the Trib and which to the Deseret, which of course is the "Mormon" paper, just by the color of the wrapper. Such little, seemingly insignificant details such as these, which reminded me of my time lived in Utah, brought me such delight!

David Ebershoff weaves the story of polygamy and the Mormon faith through the eyes of Ann Eliza, 19th wife of Brigham Young, starting with Ann Eliza's parents prior to the Mormon move to Utah. Historically based, the story is a fascinating look at the trials and tribulations of the Mormons under the leadership of their Prophet, Joseph Smith, until his death and then Brigham Young. The story tells of the dangers the Mormons faced because of their faith, their seclusion from the Gentile world, and the decree by Joseph Smith that God's command was to practice polygamy to be assured a place in heaven. Although Ann Eliza grew up in the faith, her awareness of her parents' relationship and the effect polygamy had on it troubled her. She did not view the taking of multiple wives a practice that pleased God, but rather a religious endorsement of adultery. Indeed, the way the story is told, it's difficult to see it as anything other than "legalized" adultery. After her separation and eventual divorce from Brigham Young, Ann Eliza went on lecture tours and wrote her own book, The 19th Wife, in opposition to the practice of polygamy. This is historical fact.

At the same time we are learning of the early Mormon life another story unfolds through the eyes and voice of Jordan Scott, a young man who has been thrown out of a present day polygamist colony. Ebershoff calls these people First Latter Day Saints as they believe they carry on the true beliefs of the Latter Day Saints and were opposed to the church's denouncement of polygamy in 1890. They do exist today and call themselves Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) and continue to practice polygamy.

It's not uncommon for young men to be excommunicated from an FLDS community on relatively slight "wrong doings." The reason for this is to ensure there are plenty of wives for the older men of the community. Jordan's leader/prophet banished him from their community and his mother simply drove him out of the community and left him on the side of the road in the desert. Eventually his father is murdered and she is accused of the crime. He returns to Utah from California to see his mother and becomes involved in the solving of his father's murder. Through this fictional story which is told through the book along with Ann Eliza's story, the reader learns some of the truth of polygamy in today's world.

And like any good novel, the end of the story is a bit of a surprise, or at least was for me. I'll not give it away.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but would caution the reader that it is historical fiction. Mr. Ebershoff shares his resources in the end of the book and I was delighted to find them. One book, Under the Banner of Heaven, is one that I have longed to read and is on his list. Initially, I thought I'd read it next, but have started another book instead. I most likely will look into some of the other books his research came from.

This book receives five of five shots from me.

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven
by Susan Richards Shreve

Somewhat disappointed by this memoir. The author writes of her experience at FDR's Polio facility at the age of 11 through 13. It was interesting enough to learn about the facility and the disease and the types of surgeries and such, but the story itself was rather flat and disjointed.

Near the beginning of the book Shreve tells her story of racing wheelchairs down a hill with a close friend from the facility. Before finishing the story she goes back and starts at the "beginning." Of course this is a common way to tell a story but I felt Shreve did so very poorly.

Telling her anecdotes and of the child she was and strove to be, was a journey of disjointed and often confusing paths. Often a story would stray a bit off the path apparently to interject some small, insignificant information that seemed to have nothing to do with anything, other than Shreve's desire to share it. Too often I found myself wondering why am I reading this when I thought I was reading about that? And often confused at to the time line since Shreve didn't make the reference.

I give the book 3 of 5 shots, but only because the subject was of interest to me even though poorly presented.

90 Minutes in Heaven

90 Minutes in Heaven
by Don Piper with Cecil Murphy

I thought I'd follow up "Heaven is for Real" with this book, sort of as a compare and contrast project for myself. However, this book gave me a bit of a different focus than I was expecting. If I could re-title this book, I'd call it "90 Minutes in Heaven and 2 Years in Hell."

Don Piper is a pastor in a Baptist church and after an out of town conference he is involved in a fatal accident. Pronounced dead at the scene by several people he returns to life 90 minutes later after an on scene prayer vigil by another pastor.

Mr. Piper's description of visiting heaven for those 90 minutes is pretty flat and one dimensional. He spends a few pages telling of his experience but I found it less revealing than other experiences I have read about. The remainder of the book details his excruciating pain and road to recovery. He questions God over and over why he had to return to earth and gives us a lot of insight into the terrible condition he was in, how no one expected him to live or recover, and what a hellish patient he was for the months and months of his recovery. The final portion of the book deals with how God has used him and his experience to witness to others.

I had no problem getting through the book, it was an interesting read, but really not what I was expecting. And now I will tell you right up front that I am going to be petty with this review.

One thing that particularly sticks out for me is Mr. Piper's whining about how he let his twin sons down, how he wasn't there for them to take them camping or fishing or to teach them team sports. He never recovered full use of his body and many activities became impossible for him. I grew weary of these laments for several reasons. One is that many young boys never have those experiences with their fathers. Was he really lamenting about his sons or himself? He was a pastor, and as such, I think he could have called on many fathers in the congregation to step up for him and offer those experiences to his sons. Who wouldn't happily taken them camping or fishing? He could have never recovered from the accident and not been there for them at all, in any form. What he was able to give his sons was a loving father who was there to cheer them on through all their activities whether he was able to participate or not. This whining was really annoying to me. Especially since one of his stories in the book was about a man blinded in an accident who was encouraged to focus on what he could still do, and not what he had lost.

Many near death experiences I have read about recently leave the survivor with extreme peace and calm. I realize that Mr. Piper had incredible pain to endure and lives in constant pain to this day and that could be a factor, but I didn't get his sense of peace and calm from knowing heaven.

As with "Heaven is for Real" I don't doubt any of his story and I do feel that Mr. Piper has been fulfilling his mission on earth through his experience and witnessing. Unfortunately, I am just not as impressed with his book as I thought I would be.

I give it three shots of four.