The 19th Wife: A Novel (edition 2008)

Combining historical fiction and mystery genres, this book is quit a good read if you are at all interested in Mormon culture. The writing style is competent, but not impressive which is the reason I give it only three stars. ( )

For anyone who has not been exposed to polygamy or the history of polygamy, this is a great read. It was a page-turner and I appreciated how the author captured the past in reflection to modern-day. I would recommend this book! ( )

Among other things, this was an enlightening read for me. Not knowing much at all about the Mormon faith or its origins, I now feel much more educated. And though much of this novel is historic fiction, it's written in a way that makes it very believable. I actually thought most of the "documents" presented throughout were real, until reading some other reviews & background information. (In my defense, I listened on audio, which doesn't include some of the additional disclaimer information that I believe the written book does, at the end.) I suspect many current day Mormons would be offended by this novel, and it's fair to say that this book centers primarily on polygamy, so it's important to keep in mind that the Mormon stance on polygamy was reversed in the late 1800's. But even so, there was a lot of good background information here. The novel alternates between a historical fiction account and a present-day fictional story. I found myself nearly equally engaged through the first 2/3 of the book, but found the portions about Ann Eliza Young and Brigham Young in his older years quite a bit drier near the later portions of the book, allowing my mind to wander somewhat. This would be an excellent discussion book for book club. ( )

Terrific. ( )

Terrific. ( )