History of the Prophet Joseph Smith: by his Mother

By: C.M. Rick, Legacy LDS Audiobook Foundation

Narrated by: C.M. Rick

Biography of Joseph Smith as written by his mother, Lucy Mack Smith. Shortly following the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, and into 1845, Lucy Mack Smith dictated her recollections and family story to Nauvoo schoolteacher Martha Jane Coray. Coray worked with her husband to compile these books of notes and other sources into a manuscript, which was then copied. Although surrounded by a great deal of controversy when first published by Orson Pratt in 1853, it was later published by the Church under the direction of Joseph F. Smith. It has been called "one of the essential sources for Mormon origins" by Richard L. Anderson, and in the words of Leonard Arrington it "perhaps tells more about Mormon origins than any other single source."

Public Domain (P)2017 Mormon / LDS Audiobook Foundation

Thoroughly enjoyed

The reading of the book is sometimes overly dramatic and some of the words are mispronounced, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have studied church history quite a bit but still learned several new things and gained greater insights into the character and life of both Joseph Smith and his family. Great book!

informative

I enjoyed learning about Joseph Smith's life by his loving and devoted mother's point of view.

Finally read this

I loved hearing the history of Joseph Smith through the eyes, memories and feelings of his mother. I am grateful to Mother Smith for taking the time to share her perspective. Of the many things written about the Prophet Joseph, both good and bad, it is his story as witnessed by his angel mother that has affected me the most.

Interesting perspective.

I appreciated hearing Mother Smith’s perspective. The narration, however, was distracting. It was robotic, often lacking proper inflection. The reader seemed to literally read the words without understanding the content.

Uplifting

Glad to finally be able to listen to this history of the Prophet. Powerful insights!

The love of a mother

I truly enjoyed listening to this book. I thought there would be more about Joseph but I realized I was very impressed by the story of the WHOLE family. I know the point of view of a mother is a bigger picture and so I enjoyed it.

I wish the narration was better.

The robotic voice and mispronunciations took away from fully enjoying this important story. I was glad to finally hear Mother Smith's story, though and appreciated the explanatory comments before and after.

Very well done

Loved it. Wonderful history and insightful. A few words, like Nephi, were mispronounced, but other than that, very well done.

very interesting

Very iteresting. I found out a few things I did not know and I needed to look up. It was a good book to bring up topics and feelings which only a mother would know. Narrator, or the recording company, should have asked the LDS church how to pronounce words. If a new word is unfamiliar to you then don't guess! Proper names are not phonetically rooted - was very distracting. However, other than that the narrator did an excellent job and the voice was smooth and easy to listen to.

Amazing book filled with important church history

An absolutely spectacular book! Recommended to anyone who is interested in church history. Alll LDS should read this!