A review by alexamidala
The Celestial Wife by Leslie Howard

3.0

2.5 rounded up. The Celestial Wife follows Daisy, a Mormon teen who escapes from her polygamist community during the 1960s. This novel started off strong, but slowly went off the rails. A positive aspect of this novel is that it was extremely readable and easy to digest. Additionally, I think Howard's choice to set this novel in the 1960s was a great one. Having Daisy experience Beatles concerts and Woodstock after leaving her community was lots of fun to read. Unfortunately, I found that Howard's writing lacked the emotional depth necessary when discussing serious topics like sexual violence and child abuse. Also, many of the decisions the characters made throughout this novel were absolutely absurd. I had to audibly groan after reading some of nonsensical things that Daisy did throughout this novel. If you are thinking about picking up this book because you are interested in Mormonism, I would recommend finding a different novel.