Review: The 19th Wife

The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff. (New York: Random House, c2008.)

Ebershoff explores the impact of polygamy on women and children in this complex novel of interwoven narratives. He tells the story of Ann Eliza Young, apostate ex-wife of Brigham Young, alongside the story of Jordan Scott, an excommunicated member of the "Firsts," a modern-day offshoot of the Latter Day Saints whose adherents continue to practice plural marriage.

Ann Eliza's story is historical fiction, finding its basis in her actual lectures and writings from the late 1800's. At that time, the Saints had settled in Salt Lake City and, under the leadership of Prophet Brigham Young, had developed a thriving, if insulated, society. Women were instructed, according to the vision of First Prophet Joseph Smith, that polygamy, or "celestial marriage," was a divine requirement for their salvation.

The author effectively portrays the contrast between the official picture of Mormon "sister wives," contentedly sharing housework and raising their children together, and Ann Eliza's experience of plural marriage, which she finds to be degrading to women, as well as to their children. Her lectures in theaters and auditoriums across the country, and her testimony before Congress, helped lead to legislation outlawing polygamy. Ironically, her very public apostasy may also have helped the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints survive into the present, owing to their denunciation of plural marriage at the end of the 19th century.

The author weaves a separate contemporary story into the historical one. In this story, a gay teenager, Jordan Scott, is expelled from the polygamist group known as "The Firsts." The Firsts live in Mesadale in the Utah desert, far from the scrutiny of the federal government. (Ironically, Jordan is expelled not for being gay, but for holding hands with a teenaged girl.)

This part of the story begins when Jordan's father is shot to death, and his mother, the 19th wife of his father, is jailed for the murder. Jordan, who had been abandoned by his mother by order of the Prophet, returns to Mesadale to help her win her freedom from prison.

This book is very well written and it works beautifully as a novel, but it also provides a fascinating account of the practice and politics of polygamy. Highly recommended.