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A review by moon110581
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
4.0
Read this one for book club and I enjoyed it for the most part.
This book explored the Mormon church and its fundamentalist offshoots. It follows the story of Ann Eliza Young, the '19th' wife of Brigham Young. It also follows the modern day story of a young gay man who was kicked out of the polygamist cult he was born into and comes back home after his mother, another '19th' wife, is accused of killing his father.
I was frequently annoyed with the changing narrators and formats. One section would be modern day, then the next would be excerpted from a book, the next diary entries from someone else, the next modern day again, then maybe some library records. i did, however, appreciate that all of this gave us more background on the Morman church itself and a more thorough look at the situations being discussed. It was similar for the main character in the modern parts of the book. I didn't really care for him, but as a member of book club pointed out, he acted like someone with a history of abuse. I appreciated later in the book the hope that he might open himself up to love.
I also appreciated that this main modern story had a gay protagonist, who meets someone and neither one of them end up dead by the end of the book and neither one are a collection of stereotypes. The least interesting thing about the main character is the fact that he's gay. He's not defined by his sexuality, it's just another part of who he is. He's also a 'lost boy' of a polygmist cult, someone who has an unnatural love of dogs, and someone with an innate kindness despite the hardship he's endured. He's a complex and interesting character, and despite the fact that things move awfully fast between him and the young man he becomes involved with, it's nice to be able to hope that they make it despite the awful crap in this world.
It is sad and fascinating to read about these polygamy groups, what life is like for the people that live there, and the terrible things that can happen there. The book is also interesting in a historical standpoint, the founding and the evolution of the Mormon church, and the development of these fundamentalist polygamy offshoots. It's interesting in that it also emphasizes that planned or not, the Mormon religion is something that has been evolving for a very long time and continues to do so.
This book explored the Mormon church and its fundamentalist offshoots. It follows the story of Ann Eliza Young, the '19th' wife of Brigham Young. It also follows the modern day story of a young gay man who was kicked out of the polygamist cult he was born into and comes back home after his mother, another '19th' wife, is accused of killing his father.
I was frequently annoyed with the changing narrators and formats. One section would be modern day, then the next would be excerpted from a book, the next diary entries from someone else, the next modern day again, then maybe some library records. i did, however, appreciate that all of this gave us more background on the Morman church itself and a more thorough look at the situations being discussed. It was similar for the main character in the modern parts of the book. I didn't really care for him, but as a member of book club pointed out, he acted like someone with a history of abuse. I appreciated later in the book the hope that he might open himself up to love.
I also appreciated that this main modern story had a gay protagonist, who meets someone and neither one of them end up dead by the end of the book and neither one are a collection of stereotypes. The least interesting thing about the main character is the fact that he's gay. He's not defined by his sexuality, it's just another part of who he is. He's also a 'lost boy' of a polygmist cult, someone who has an unnatural love of dogs, and someone with an innate kindness despite the hardship he's endured. He's a complex and interesting character, and despite the fact that things move awfully fast between him and the young man he becomes involved with, it's nice to be able to hope that they make it despite the awful crap in this world.
It is sad and fascinating to read about these polygamy groups, what life is like for the people that live there, and the terrible things that can happen there. The book is also interesting in a historical standpoint, the founding and the evolution of the Mormon church, and the development of these fundamentalist polygamy offshoots. It's interesting in that it also emphasizes that planned or not, the Mormon religion is something that has been evolving for a very long time and continues to do so.