The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (audiobook)

genre: historical fiction

Told in two time periods, the 19th Wife is both a murder mystery and a look at the consequences of polygamy both in the time of the Mormon Prophet Brigham Young as well as in modern day cults run by men the likes of Warren Jeffs.  The story has many "primary" documents sprinkled throughout, excerpts supposedly from the actual book "Wife No. 19" by one of Brigham's wives, Ann Eliza Young, as well as other "journals."  We learn all about Ann Eliza's upbringing as well her family's story as it leads into her experiences with polygamy.

Here is the thing with this book.  I never knew, even now, where the line between fiction and fact was.  It made it really hard for me to get into it, and even now that I'm done and have read the notes at the end.  The modern day storyline was way too slow for me and while I really love cult stories, this one just never hit the spot.  Even the murder mystery itself just felt sloppy.  And while pioneer era stories fascinate me, I felt like I was floundering the whole time with what's real and what's not.  Too many real-life people as main characters left me feeling like I wasn't on solid ground.  As a person raised in this religion, I have a lot more context than the average reader and I still felt frustrated. I also acknowledge that this can be a problem with historical fiction in general. That being said, though, it does bring to light the truly tragic plight of women in polygamy (both in the past and in the present).  Whatever the details, harm was definitely done.

I'm not sorry I listened to it because it got me interested in a lot of things that I have now done some of my own research on and it wasn't HORRIBLE, it just didn't thrill me.

CW: language, adult themes, some sacred parts of Mormonism are discussed