David Ebershoff, the 19th Wife

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 1:00pm
Sat, 11/07/2009 - 2:00pm
 
 
 The first recounts Brigham Young's expulsion of one of his wives, Ann Eliza, from the Mormon Church; the second is a modern-day murder mystery set in a polygamous compound in Utah. Unfolding through an impressive variety of narrative forms—Wikipedia entries, academic research papers, newspaper opinion pieces—the stories include fascinating historical details. We are told, for instance, of Brigham Young's ban on dramas that romanticized monogamous love at his community theatre; as one of Young's followers says, "I ain't sitting through no play where a man makes such a cussed fuss over one woman." Ebershoff demonstrates abundant virtuosity, as he convincingly inhabits the voices of both a nineteenth-century Mormon wife and a contemporary gay youth excommunicated from the church, while also managing to say something about the mysterious power of faith.
Location: 
Cedar Grove Public Library
One Municipal Plaza
Cedar Grove, New Jersey 07009

The 19th Wife (Paperback)

$13.50
ISBN-13: 9780812974157
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 06/01/2009