Book Review: The 19th Wife

"Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain."

-David Ebershoff

It has been a crazy week in our household, so I apologize for my absence.  As promised, I have my book review on The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff for you today.

Before I begin, I have a confession to make: I love Lifetime movies.  While I was in college, my DVR was filled with Lifetime movies and my friends and I would gather together to watch them.  I miss those days dearly.  Anyways, the fall semester of my senior year, Lifetime aired the movie version of The 19th Wife. Now, I'm not usually the type to watch the movie before reading the book, but I honestly had no idea this was a book until after watching the movie.  I picked up the book at a Barnes and Noble a few months later and finally got around to reading it this year!

I won't lie and say I didn't struggle a little with this one, because I did.  It was very long and I just wasn't as into it as I wanted to be until I got about halfway through.  Once I hit that halfway point, I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen to Ann Eliza and Jordan.

The novel tells two stories.  The first is the story of a young man named Jordan who is a former member of the Firsts and whose mother has been arrested for the murder of his polygamy practicing father.  The second is the story of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young's infamous 19th wife.  This portion of the novel is comprise of historical writings written by Ann Eliza Young herself, her father, her son, and Brigham Young.

I didn't know much about the Mormon faith prior to reading this novel and I feel as if it provided a good history about how the Mormon faith came to be.  I understand there may be some discrepancies between truth and fiction, but I still feel as if it provided good insight.  I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good historical fiction. 

Have a great weekend!