Born and bred deep in Mormon Utah, thirty-something Eliza Spainhower has carved out an independent life for herself in Boston. While still believing in the faith of her childhood, she has recently fallen into fornication and been disfellowshipped from the LDS Church. Trying to repent, she connects with local native Eric Abercrombie on the subway, and soon she's prodding him in a race against hormones as the couple navigates Mormon baptism-and-wedding hurdles. Further complicating matters are Eric's adopted daughter Manda, his bossy ex-wife Helen, and Manda's Wiccan birth mother Kindra, all three of whom live together. As Eliza tries to establish her place in Eric's improbable clan, she's forced to reckon with her Mormon identity and her sometimes-overactive religious imagination in unsettling new ways. Her journey of spiritual and physical passion is fraught with frottage, Mormon-style guilt, otherworldly visions, ministrations of evil spirits, and culture clashes between Mormonism and Wiccanism, all shot through with simmering intimations of polygamy that eventually reach a crisis point.
Kindred Spirits
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is a fantastically fun and funny book that gives an entertaining portrait of the Mormon mindset through richly developed and realistic characters. The author uses earthy details to contrast the pathetic messiness inherent in the physical body with the purity of spiritual feelings and experiences. This novel is more faith-exploring than faith-promoting, and the author doesn't just spell out what readers should think. I couldn't help wondering how things would have turned out if the main character had made different choices." --C.L. Hanson, blogger
"This is a love/conversion story, which I usually find sappy, but Bigelow manages to create characters that are at once sympathetic and believable. Although Eliza is zealous in her missionary spirit, she isn't always comfortable in her Mormon skin. Mormons will no doubt recognize a bit of themselves in her good-natured rebellions, and others will probably think, "I knew it! They aren't as sanctimonious as they try to put on." This book is a bit edgier than most Mormon fiction, but clean, entertaining, and fun to read. I'll be on the lookout for more of Bigelow's brand of fiction." --Charlene Hirschi in the Logan Herald Journal
"One of the best things about this novel is how Eliza grows and also how she doesn't. She sees everything in her life as a trial, a blessing, a lesson, or a chance to help others accept the true gospel. This is a very Mormon way of looking at life, and the author doesn't shy away from how over the top it can get. Eliza has her values and priorities, and sometimes she knowingly acts against them. She feels guilty and vows to be better, and then she usually falls short. She's just very, very human." --Rebecca Ellsworth, blogger
"This is a love/conversion story, which I usually find sappy, but Bigelow manages to create characters that are at once sympathetic and believable. Although Eliza is zealous in her missionary spirit, she isn't always comfortable in her Mormon skin. Mormons will no doubt recognize a bit of themselves in her good-natured rebellions, and others will probably think, "I knew it! They aren't as sanctimonious as they try to put on." This book is a bit edgier than most Mormon fiction, but clean, entertaining, and fun to read. I'll be on the lookout for more of Bigelow's brand of fiction." --Charlene Hirschi in the Logan Herald Journal
"One of the best things about this novel is how Eliza grows and also how she doesn't. She sees everything in her life as a trial, a blessing, a lesson, or a chance to help others accept the true gospel. This is a very Mormon way of looking at life, and the author doesn't shy away from how over the top it can get. Eliza has her values and priorities, and sometimes she knowingly acts against them. She feels guilty and vows to be better, and then she usually falls short. She's just very, very human." --Rebecca Ellsworth, blogger
About the Author
The great-great-great-grandson of a Mormon apostle with more than forty wives, Christopher Kimball Bigelow served a mission in Melbourne, Australia, and worked as an editor at the LDS Church's Ensign magazine. A graduate of Emerson College and Brigham Young University, he cofounded and edited the Mormon literary magazine Irreantum and the satirical Mormon news source The Sugar Beet. Books written, coauthored, or edited by Bigelow include Mormonism For Dummies, The Mormon Tabernacle Enquirer, Conversations with Mormon Authors, and The Timechart History of Mormonism. A Hodgkin's disease survivor and the oldest of ten siblings, he lives with his wife and five children in Provo, Utah. His personal blog is located at ckbigelow.blogspot.com, and he can be reached at chris bigelow@gmail.com.
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More About the Author
I'm the author of seven books on Mormonism, including Mormon-themed humor and fiction. I'm the great-great-great-grandson of a Mormon apostle who had more than forty wives. I served an LDS mission in Melbourne, Australia, and worked as an editor at the LDS Church's official Ensign magazine. A graduate of Emerson College and Brigham Young University, I cofounded and edited the Mormon literary magazine Irreantum and the satirical Mormon newspaper The Sugar Beet. A Hodgkin's disease survivor and the oldest of ten siblings, I live with my wife and five children in Provo, Utah.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Suprising, Entertaining, Believable.,
This review is from: Kindred Spirits (Paperback)
I absolutely loved this book.
The character development and their relationships with each other really is what pulls it together. It is such a well written, entertaining, and realistic yet surreal story that I couldn't help but like it. Making something like this believable is the challenge and Bigelow did a fantastic Job, I tip my hat to him. The journey was well worth the money and will be one I will eventually take of the shelf to read again.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Physical vs. Spiritual,
By Jane Freese "FreeseTag" (Henderson, NV) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Kindred Spirits (Paperback)
I applaud Bigelow's ability to craft a female main character who is both intellegent and flawed. Eliza's healthy sexuality is tainted with guilt to the point of being poignantly frustrating. I found myself pulling for her even though I felt she was unconsciously complicit in her own subjugation.
If you are looking for a romantic love story, this is not the book. Even with the mystical Mormon references, Bigelow is a realist. Life is messy and strangely funny. The characters are skillfully presented with dialogue that rings true. The imagery and details are vivid and earthy, creating an interesting juxtaposition between heavenly ideals and physical drives and functions. One example; the advice Eliza's mother gives her daughter about sex is both graphic and prudishly warped. Whether Bigelow intended it or not, his eccentric supporting characters -Wiccans and free love advocates- will not appear to the mainstream reader to be any more bizarre in their beliefs and practices than Mormons are in theirs. The novel presents Eliza's numinous mind set as normal, even exemplary. Anyone thinking that Mormonism is just another protestant religion will be informed to the contrary. To call "Kindred Spirits" a Mormon novel would be an accurate but incomplete description. It is a novel about a modern woman's struggle to create a family while staying loyal to an extremely demanding, outdated, and unnecessarily harsh set of beliefs and values.
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