The 19th Wife

A Novel

By: David Ebershoff

Narrated by: Kimberly Farr, Rebecca Lowman, Arthur Morey

Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain.

Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense.

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds - a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.

And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’ s search, listeners are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.

©2008 David Ebershoff (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This exquisite tour de force explores the dark roots of polygamy and its modern-day fruit in a renegade cult...Ebershoff brilliantly blends a haunting fictional narrative by Ann Eliza Young, the real-life 19th “rebel” wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, with the equally compelling contemporary narrative of fictional Jordan Scott, a 20-year-old gay man...With the topic of plural marriage and its shattering impact on women and powerless children in today's headlines, this novel is essential reading for anyone seeking understanding of the subject.” (Publishers Weekly - starred review)

More than multiple wives

When I think Mormon, I think many wives, Utah, and a pageant in Upstate NY, pretty much in that order. This book offered an insight into the Mormon religion and customs that I hadn't heard before and much, much more than my initial thoughts of Mormonism. The book is a little difficult to follow switching from reader to reader with the various research findings, but worth the effort.

Fascinating insights into Mormonism

Would you consider the audio edition of The 19th Wife to be better than the print version?

I didn't read the print version

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Different voices for different perspectivs.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, although it wasn't possible.

Any additional comments?

This book gave fascinating insights into Mormonism and polygenous marriage in the context of absorbing fiction.

Educational and a riveting story at the same time

enjoyed jumping back and forth from historical to present day, fiction and non fiction all wrapped up in one.

Amazing

I loved this book. I learned a lot about Mormons and polygamy reading this. This book contains two parallel stories, one of modern day polygamy and one of the beginnings of polygamy in Utah and how it became illegal. I live in Utah, but am not a native, so I found this absolutely fascinating. I highly recommend it to anyone as it is a riveting story.

Almost couldn't stop when I needed to do things!

I liked all of the voices and the stories woven together! I made the mistake of starting this during law school finals and would take little breaks to listen to bits of it but I almost couldn't stop to go back to work!

The 19th Wife

A facsinating listen--the narrators did a great job and intertwined the 2 19th wives very well. I learned a great deal about polygamy, the Firsts and B. Young, as well as the treatment of women in that time period. The psychological impact of children of polygamy was very enlightening. It is a long listen, but worth it. Very interesting material for discussion for book clubs.

The 19th Wife

Where does The 19th Wife rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks I have listened to.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The 19th Wife?

The author has two parallel stories that reveal both the history and motivation of the "Saints".

Story of how polygamy destroys people.

I liked the dual threads of past and present. my favorite characters were Jordan and Elektra. I found myself not wanting to put this book down.

I will never not recommend this book!

Any additional comments?

I bought this book totally by chance some years back, while on vacation in Brussels (I had forgotten to bring a book, so I went into the first bookstore I could find). What originally called to me was the opportunity to get a closer look at a religion and a world, that I have only heard about on the news – and NEVER for the good reasons.

The book is divided into three narratives; a modern day murder-mystery, with a 19th wife at the centre, the true tale of Eliza Young – a 19th wife herself, and fictional scholars talking about Eliza Young and her book. When I read this book the first time I really fell in love with the first part, was intrigued by the second, and found the third a bit superfluous. But this time around I love all three parts, coming to the conclusion that you need them all, to really get at what celestial marriage is all about.

All in all this book is just an awesome read, and the story as well as the characters will stay with you long after you reached the (although 600+ pages long) all so soon end.

I will say,though that not all narrators are equally good...

Five stars!

Loved it so much! Now that the book is over, I miss the characters and narrators. Wow, highly recommend.