Ebershoff has clearly done an awful lot of research (and there's an extensive bibliography to prove it) and most of his constructions, therefore, come across as very realistic. We are shown a college dissertation and Mormon sermons. We are presented with accounts by Ann herself, by Ann's father, Chauncey, by her brother Gilbert, by Brigham Young himself, by various others. In telling this part of the story, Ebershoff has constructed fictional texts, diaries, memoirs, legal depositions, letters, newspaper articles, and even a cod Wikipedia entry. Eventually, Ann breaks free of the prophet's hold, seeks a divorce and begins a public campaign against the evils of polygamy. Ann's personal story takes us through her unhappy marriage to one man, her divorce and subsequent 'marriage' as the 19th wife of Brigham Young, a man who receives messages directly from God. The parts of the book dealing with Ann Eliza Young take in the whole history of the Mormons, from their establishment and early clashes with the Authorities - including the Haun's Mill Massacre, in which many of their number were murdered with the approval of the state government - until their final settlement in Utah. He is sure she must be innocent and decides to penetrate the closed society that rejected him in order to discover the truth. Jordan's mother has been accused of murdering his father. The second 19th wife is the mother of our modern-day narrator, Jordan Scott. The first of these wives is Ann Eliza Young, the real-life 19th spouse of the real-life 19th Century Mormon prophet Brigham Young. Both revolve around polygamy and the Mormons, and both involve a 19th wife. Possibly over-ambitious and ultimately disappointing.ĭavid Ebershoff's latest novel, The 19th Wife, develops two parallel stories, one of them a fictionalized account of historical fact, the other a modern-day murder mystery. Very interesting in some places, but not as good a read as I'd been led to believe by the Richard and Judy blurb.

Summary: Two novels in one – a modern murder mystery intertwined with a fictional reworking of history – set in the Mormon world of polygamy.

The 19th wife book summary