The 19th Wife

The Dust Jacket Society, our newly named book club gaggle, met last night at Olive Garden to discuss The 19th Wife. I think the general consensus by all of the group members was a favorable one. Honestly, I didn't expect that I would read this book when J assigned it to us at our previous meeting, and I also didn't expect that I would like it. I am happy to report; however, that it's a very compelling story, and once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
The 19th Wife is the story of the 19th wife (although some say more like the 52nd wife) of Brigham Young who was expelled from the Mormon faith and started a crusade to end polygamy in this country. Running parallel to her story, is the story of a present day polygamist family in Utah where a murder has occurred. I did find myself enjoying Ann Eliza's story more so than that of the current polygamist murder tale, but they were woven together nicely. I think the author tried to make this a story about faith, but the polygamist aspect of the story was so intriguing that it's all I could focus on. All of the book club gals were on the same page (no pun intended) when it came to being totally absorbed in this foreign concept. (The Mormon's called it Celestial Marriage.) This book gave us so many different topics and angles to discuss. I'm sure we were quite a sight for the good folks dining at the O.G. We thought about letting word slip out that we were "Sister Wives" out on the hunt for new sisters to add to our family. Hahha. Where was I? Oh yes, we had much to discuss with this book. The dynamics amongst the sister wives, the corruption of faith, the inability to comprehend how this idea of Celestial Marriage ever sounded moral, and what kind of person buys into such a concept? What kind of player was Brigham Young? Very intriguing.
We also discussed the case going on in our area right now of Tony Alamo, a man accused of marrying (i.e. raping) young girls as young as 9 years old who were members of his religious sect. Who allows this to happen? Who are his followers and what are they thinking? I think the story of the modern day polygamist family that the author intertwines with Ann Eliza's story keeps this story pertinent to our times. This still happens. Was it last year that the sect in Texas was raided and all of the children taken away?
While reading the book, I also found myself researching plural marriages, Brigham Young, Ann Eliza Young, etc. You can't read this book without coming away with a curiosity to know more. One of the topics that I hit on while searching for topics online was this interesting event in US history that I had never heard of. The more you look into this era and the events surrounding it, the more it boggles the mind. By the way, if you've never heard of Ann Eliza
Young, You can read her memoirs here. I did.
Note: There are some aspects to the story itself that I didn't care for; however, overall, I would recommend this book on it's historical significance alone, but with the forewarning that there is foul language and a hom*sexual character. I could've lived without either of those traits in the book, but I wasn't the author (who by the way is a VERY nice looking gentleman, I'd just like to point that out.) I'd love to hear from anyone who has read the book. Email me!
And for those interested, our newest title: Hope in a Jar, by Beth Harbison. Not sure what I think of Chic Lit, but we're gonna find out!! Oh, and our optional read this month is The Noticer, by Andy Andrews.