Saints

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Emily Janice Card, Stefan Rudnicki, Paul Boehmer

This is an epic of independence and devotion, of hardship and fulfillment, of a woman so strong that knowing her could change your life.

When 10-year-old Dinah Kirkham saw her father leave their Manchester home in the middle of the night, she asked when he would be back. “Soon,” he replied. But he never came back. On that night in 1829, John Kirkham laid the foundation of his daughter’s certainty that the only person Dinah could ever really trust was herself.

From that day forward, Dinah worked to support her family, remaining devoted to their welfare even in the face of despair and grinding poverty. Then one day she heard a new message; a new purpose ignited in her heart, and new life opened up before her.

©1984 Orson Scott Card (P)2011 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Card’s magnum opus deserves a wider readership than it has hitherto enjoyed. Best known for his fantasy fiction…Card does an excellent job of depicting the Dickensian horrors of England undergoing industrialization in the early 19th century as well as the early trials of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints as experienced by his heroine…Not just for the LDS faithful…this ambitious novel will appeal to anyone interested in a sensitive examination of the roots of religious feeling.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Orson Scott Card is a powerful storyteller with the gift of making mundane things sparkle…an engrossing epic.” ( Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Faith, humility and truth

I am grateful to Orson Scott Card for understand and it's lessons and the signed copy of Zenocide I revived on my Mission in San Jose Ca from 1991 to 1993...

but ever more so for this work, a memory of truth put into a narative that puts us there with the Saints as they Pioneered not only the west but our connection with Heavenly Father.

worth every penny...

This is a story about Mormons

A well-written and interesting historical fiction about early Mormons. I enjoyed it even though I am not a Mormon.

excellent story telling

always intriguing and hard to put down. the narration is excellent. I live the length of Cards stories. it allows me to immerse in them

Mormons

What disappointed you about Saints?

While the book was well written, the description did not indicate it was about the Mormon religion. Since this subject is of little interest to me I was disappointed in my purchase

What could Orson Scott Card have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

no

Saints as real people

It made so many of the historical figures come to life. It made me see their struggles and pain from a different view.

Fascinating story

Great work again by Orson Card. I truly enjoyed this book. He doesn't pull any punches with the strengths and weaknesses of early leaders of the Mormon church.

Saints, Following the Lord with an Obedient Heart

Recognize this was a novel but as I listened I felt I was really coming to know the hearts of the people and their sacrifice in being true to the Lord and His restored Gospel. My hope is that Orson did thorough research into the lives of the early Saints, seeking to know them through their dairies, journals, published works and interviews, to capture a realistic picture of the people who sacrificed so much for their faith filling the wells we draw from so freely today.

Wash Manure and it is still Sh#t

SHE DOES NOT FIT INTO THE GROUP SHE MAKES THE GROUP FIT HER
This is separated into ten books and 50 chapters. The first and second book and 16 chapters are excellent. It reminded me a lot of Potato Factory by Bryce Courtney. This was about the Industrialized England of the early 1800's. About how cruel people could be and hard it was to survive. With the exception of the father The Kirkham family manages to stay afloat during these hard times.

FROG STRANGLER
Early in book 3 this becomes a devotional. I am guessing a lot people would know that a book called Saints would be about Mormons. I honestly did not. I knew Card was a Mormon, as he mentions in Lost Boys and some other books. I have always been interested in religion, so even though the whole mood of the book drastically changed and I am not a fan of devotionals from any religion, I kept listening. Card is also my favorite writer. Now we have gone from a five star to a three star.

BEAUTY ATTRACTS A MAN, BUT THE BRAIN KEEPS HIM.
In book five Dinah Kirkham leaves her children to go to America. She is called a hero and brave for leaving her children for her religion. I really had a problem with this part of the book. This whole book is mostly about Dinah and we are lead to believe she is some great pious person. When she arrives in America she meets Joseph Smith, who is half naked and wrestling a man. Later she commits adultery with the leader of the church. Only it is called celestial marriage (she is still legally married to a man in England). She becomes an advocate of plural marriages and talks other women into doing it. When Smith dies, she marries Brigham Young. She proposes to him, not him to her. In the beginning of the book, we are lead to believe that she is almost raped by her boss, after the other women have complained about her getting favors for her flirting and showing her cleavage to the boss. Towards the end of the book, I am really starting to wonder who raped who.

MALARIA MEANS BAD AIR
Card did not do any favors for the church, by the way he portrays Joseph Smith, the leader of the church. I am surprised he even published this. I did not like Smith from the start and he got worse as the book goes on. He marries at least 13 other women in secret and does not tell his first wife. When she suspects something is going on, he lies straight to her face. Before sleeping with Dinah, he tells her that if anyone finds out, he will deny it. If she is threatened with excommunication, he will let that happen. Under no circumstances is his first wife to find out. In other words, he is a chicken Sh#t. When his first wife finally finds out, it almost drives her crazy, but he keeps doing it. Matter of fact she might have actually gone crazy, but Smith could care less. Anytime Joseph wants something, he gets a vision from God. He complains he does not want to bed more women, but hey, God told him to. I am not sure we get a final number on how many women he marries, but I do believe that Young has over 40 wives.

BURIED TO HIS ELBOWS IN ASHES
The second half of this book sounds like some kind of Peyton Place. I put it on fast play in order to get through it. I wanted to get through it to see how Smith talks these ladies into sleeping with him and his wife into accepting him. The way Card writes it, it sounds like most of the women are pretty horny for his big body. He is described as big and muscly. His wife never really accepted it and claimed to her dying day that he never cheated on her. There is some drama between two sisters who marry the same man. The Mormons who practice plural marriage today seem to like to marry sisters. If your not a Mormon or interested in the religion, you probably should stay away from this book.

Narrators are good, except for one that sounds like he is reading a children's book.

Warning! Non-Mormons may be offended!

I love Orson Scott Cards work, and I knew going into this book that it would heavily biased towards the LDS church. However, that didn’t keep me from disliking the moral judgments of some of the characters in the story. While the overall story is very solid, I think non-members of the LDS church will be quite offended by some of the doctrine discussed in the book. If you have an open mind, I think it’s well worth the listen and Stefan Rudnicki’s performance is up to his usual high standards.

Haunting and inspiring

A great historical novel that gives context and sympathy towards the early Saints who had to learn and experience plural marriage.