The 19th Wife: A Novel [Paperback]

David Ebershoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2009

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 her family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how both she and her mother became plural wives. Yet 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, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love, family, and faith.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. This sweeping epic is a compelling and original work set in 1875, when one woman attempts to rid America of polygamy. Ebershoff intertwines his tale with that of a 20th-century murder mystery in Utah, allowing the two stories to twist and turn into a marvelous literary experience. With such a sprawling tale to relate, a few narrators (Kimberly Farr, Rebecca Lowman, Arthur Morey and Daniel Passer) divide up the roles and deliver a solid, professional reading, true to Ebershoffs prose. A Random House hardcover (Reviews, June 23). (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From The New Yorker

This ambitious third novel tells two parallel stories of polygamy. The first recounts Brigham Young's expulsion of one of his wives, Ann Eliza, from the Mormon Church; the second is a modern-day murder mystery set in a polygamous compound in Utah. Unfolding through an impressive variety of narrative forms—Wikipedia entries, academic research papers, newspaper opinion pieces—the stories include fascinating historical details. We are told, for instance, of Brigham Young's ban on dramas that romanticized monogamous love at his community theatre; as one of Young's followers says, "I ain't sitting through no play where a man makes such a cussed fuss over one woman." Ebershoff demonstrates abundant virtuosity, as he convincingly inhabits the voices of both a nineteenth-century Mormon wife and a contemporary gay youth excommunicated from the church, while also managing to say something about the mysterious power of faith.
Copyright ©2008 Click here to subscribe to The New Yorker --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812974158
• ISBN-13: 978-0812974157
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (193 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #62 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery > Historical

More About the Author

David Ebershoff is the author of four books of fiction, including The Danish Girl, The Rose City, and Pasadena. His most recent novel is the international bestseller, The 19th Wife. His writing has won a number of awards, including the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Lambda Literary Award. His books have been translated into eighteen languages to critical acclaim. Two of his novels are being adapted for film and television. Ebershoff teaches in the graduate writing program at Columbia University and is an editor-at-large at Random House. Originally from Pasadena, California, he now lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

191 of 197 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ripped from the headlines?, August 8, 2008

By 

Susan Tunis (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 19th Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)

When I heard what this novel was about, I immediately wanted to read it. The reason is that I've been so intrigued by news accounts of groups like the polygamous fundamentalists featured in this novel. For me, it was like a window into another world.

The story opens with 20-year-old Jordan Scott reading the news online. He sees a photo of a woman being placed into a police car and suddenly realizes that it's his mother! He hasn't seen her since she and his father left him by the side of the highway with $17 dollars in his pocket at the age of 14. You see, Jordan was raised in Utah in a polygamous Mormon sect--an extremist offshoot of the contemporary Mormon Church. Jordan's mom was #19 of his dad's 25 or so wives, and Jordan was raised with about 100 siblings. It's a very different upbringing. Sadly, at the age of 14, Jordan was excommunicated for a non-existent offence, and cast out from his home, family, and the life he'd known. But he's a survivor, and he's made a life for himself in LA.

Seeing that his mother has been arrested for the murder of his father, Jordan realizes that he must return home and face his past. He goes to visit his mother in jail, and she tells him, "I didn't do it!" and begs for his help. With all the conflicted feelings you would imagine, Jordan begins his own investigation into the murder case, and for the first time in years has contact with his former life. Despite the pain this sometimes brings him, he makes friends along the way, and they're a fascinating and diverse group of allies.

This contemporary murder mystery would be more than enough story for your average novel, but in this case, it's only half of it. For the chapters about Jordan and the murder mystery alternate with another story. It's the fictionalized memoir of Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young, one of the early founders of the Mormon Church. The very formation of the Church, right through its first several decades, are seen through Ann Eliza's eyes. She was a real historic character who did write a memoir about her life, marriage to the decades-older Young, eventual divorce, and crusade against polygamy in the Church.

Ebershoff has woven these two tales together magnificently. I can't claim to have known much about the Mormon faith, its history, or any current issues in the religion, but I was equally fascinated by both stories being told. I realize there's a limit to what a person can learn from a fictional work, but this novel appears to have been meticulously researched. (There's a great author's note at the end.) It's a hefty book, but well-written, compelling, exotic, and more than anything one hell of a story.

196 of 211 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Historical fiction that weaves todays headlines with their historical past, August 5, 2008

By 

Modern Blue Argonaut - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The 19th Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed reading The 19th Wife. In fact, it was one of the best books I've read this year. The author, David Ebershoff, skillfully weaves a tale back and forth between the roots of nineteenth century polygamy and a modern day polygamist murder mystery.

Much of the book focuses on the nineteenth century beginnings of polygamy and the Mormon faith, and at first I was put off by this, being more interested in today's headlines than historical fiction, but as I moved through the book I found myself more and more captivated by the very compelling story of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young's nineteenth (disputed) wife.

This book is woven with so much historical fact that it becomes hard to separate fact from fiction, but I do believe the author tried to accurately portray the events as much as possible.

Just a few of the highlights and themes in this book include a couple of "lost boys" who were kicked out of their community for small indiscretions, left abandoned on the streets at a young age. Their stories are wrought with pain but end nicely. There are also a few instances of modern day escapes from the polygamist community; some forced and coerced marriages; and a consistent theme of hurt feelings as the husbands take on additional wives. This book covers these stories and so many more it would be difficult to touch on all of them in a short review.

I have never read a nearly 600 page book in just four days, but that is just what I did with this book. I felt a very emotional connection to this book and it's characters and I hope to read more from this author.

57 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery that spans generations, August 12, 2008

By 

Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The 19th Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)

In 1875 Ann Eliza Young, the purported wife of Mormon leader Brigham Young, published her memoirs. A year earlier she had left her husband, filed for divorce, fled Utah and had embarked on a nationwide lecture tour fiercely denouncing the evils of polygamy.

Present day California, Jordan Scott, is a 20 year old "lost boy" expelled from the polygamous First Latter Day Saints community of Mesadale, Utah, by the Prophet. Browsing the St. George Register online he is stunned to see his mother on the front page accused on murdering his father, a prominent First. An open chat page on the dead man's computer identifies his murderer, his 19th wife....Jordan's mother.


It took a few false starts before I got into the rhythm of The 19th Wife. Moving from Anne Eliza's life story and history of the westward migration of the Mormons, to present day Utah where Jordan struggles to understand what might have happened, the storyline moves back and forth slowly drawing the reader into the story. Jordan must return to Mesadale and try to uncover the truth of his father's murder and possibly free his mother from jail. Anne Eliza chronicles her family's conversion to Mormonism, their westward migration, the persecution of the sect and their expulsion into the inhospitable west. Jordan has to return to Mesadale where he is unsure who, if anyone can be trusted and where he is watched and shunned at every turn.

As Jordan moves closer to the truth his path intersects with Ann Eliza's story and his life is also in danger. Help from an unexpected source offers him safety, but can it be trusted? David Ebershoff has crafted a masterful, though somewhat twisted tale of family life. Through extensive research he is able to portray the inner workings of a closed society and the corruption of power. This kept me engrossed from beginning to the much unexpected end.