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Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith Paperback – June 1, 1994

by Linda King Newell (Author), Valeen Tippetts Avery (Author)

4.6 127 ratings

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Winner of the Evans Biography Award, the Mormon History Association Best Book Award, and the John Whitmer Association (RLDS) Best Book Award.

Mormon Enigma is the bestselling biography of Emma Hale Smith, wife of the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith. It was Joseph Smith who announced that an angel of the Lord had commanded him to introduce a 'new order of marriage.' And it was Emma Hale Smith who confronted the practice of polygamy head on.

As the authors note in their introduction, "Early leaders in Utah castigated Emma from their pulpits for opposing Brigham Young and the practice of polygamy, and for lending support to the Reorganization. As these attitudes filtered down through the years, Emma was virtually written out of official Utah histories. In this biography, we have attempted to reconstruct the full story of this remarkable and much misunderstood woman's experiences.

Length

432
Pages
Language

EN
English
Publisher

University of Illinois Press
Publication date

1994
June 1
Dimensions

9.0 x 6.1 x 1.0
inches
ISBN-10

0252062914
ISBN-13

978-0252062919
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the great biographies in Mormon and nineteenth-century American literature. A model of honesty, clarity, and fairness."--Leonard J. Arrington, coauthor of The Mormon Experience: A History of the Latter-day Saints

"Not only Mormons, but all those concerned with the role of women in religion and society will find this book of exceptional interest. Skillfully and engagingly, yet with scrupulous fidelity to their exhaustive research, the authors tell the complex story of Emma Smith. This is a remarkable book about a remarkable woman."--Lawrence Foster, author of Religion and Sexuality: The Shakers, the Mormons, and the Oneida Community

"Provides a heretofore unavailable and sustained and well-rounded picture of the early history of Mormonism from a feminine point of view. . . . The book is marvelous. It will be the standard work on Emma from this point on."--Jan Shipps, author of Mormonism: The Story of a New Religious Tradition

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Illinois Press; Second edition (June 1, 1994)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 432 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0252062914
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0252062919
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.29 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.01 x 6.05 x 0.95 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #491,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #552 in Mormonism
- #2,078 in Religious Leader Biographies
- #8,387 in U.S. State & Local History

Customer Reviews:
4.6 127 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

127 global ratings

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B. Baggins

Must Read

Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2023

Verified Purchase

Every LDS member should be required to read this biography.

Helpful

William G. Barnson

A shocking expose' of polygamy by the founders of the Mormon church.

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2022

Verified Purchase

One of the authors, Valeen Avery, has a cousin (Richard) who told me about this book.... so I bought it to obtain information about the founder of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith, Jr. The book is highly researched and provides authenticated proof of the practice of polygamy by Joseph and others in the early days of the church, in spite of Joseph's claim that he never participated in that activity.

My order was quickly fulfilled by retail book suppliers Phil & Kathy Bence in Idaho ... a great team.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

2HELPU

Emma Hale Smith--An American Hero

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

Extraordinary! Filled with heartwarming stories and valuable tidbits! A must read for saint and sinner. Once opened it was difficult to put down. I read my copy in two days. Newell & Avery's exhaustive research, articulate prose, and attention to detail make this an American masterpiece. The most notable aspect of all is the life of Emma Hale Smith. Sorting through every iota of historical information that this book gathers and provides, the authors leave me with only one conclusion: She was a devoted, long suffering, hard working, charitable, enduring Christian by any standard or definition. She suffered and served for a lifetime. Her legacy stands next to the greatest of Americans whose histories get all the glory and yet she lobbied for none. Mormons believe in "being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; they believe in following Paul's admonition: they believe all things, they hope all things, they have endured many things and they hope to be able to endure all things; finally, they seek after anything virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy." THIS WAS EMMA HALE SMITH BIDAMON. If there is a god in heaven then Emma will be at his side--surely God would like to be at hers.

11 people found this helpful

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Kirstin Corbett

Must read if your into Mormon History

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2022

Verified Purchase

So well written. I couldnt put it down. So well researched. It really opened my eyes to Joseph Smith and his fraud that he perpetuated on his followers.

2 people found this helpful

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norahdaniel

Interesting Emma

Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

After reading Fawn Brodie's biography of Joseph Smith, I wanted to now more about his wife, Emma. Given that she did not keep a diary and and only seldom wrote letters, this book is a remarkable accomplishment. Emma was an amazing woman whose life with Smith entailed insecurity, homelessness, terror, and the death of several of her children. Through it all, she not only remained steadfast, but generous to others in need of help. She believed in her husband, but defied him on the doctrine of plural marriage, which she refused to believe was divinely inspired.

My only criticism of the book is that is that in the first third, which covers the origins of Mormonism, it seems to suspend any critical thinking and to simply accept Joseph Smith's version of events. This is rectified during the rest of the book which does not defer to Smith or Brigham Young, but treats them with the scrutiny that should be afforded historical figures. I also wished that the rise of Mormonism had been put in context, rather than simply seen as inevitable. But these are small quibbles with a very compelling book. Emma was an intelligent, kind and courageous woman caught up in an extraordinary moment in history. I loved getting to know her and was sad to close the covers when her life, and the book, ended.

29 people found this helpful

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Anastasia Fighting Lyme

Seeking the right path to GOD... Was I wrong in my LDS conviction of 16 years?

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2009

Verified Purchase

I have been a faithful member of the LDS Faith for over 16 years.. I can't say that learning more about polygamy and history on Joseph Smith has "strengthened my faith".

To the contrary... I have been looking for answers and have not found any logical acceptable explanation on the Church... I do NOT know whether it is or is not true... but if Celestial Kingdom is the one where horny men have polygamy relations with 30 women age 14 and on... I don't want to be in that Kingdom! Or Church =).

I keep seeking the TRUTH and looking for light and knowledge and believe that God is mindful of me. If anyone has insights... please post! God Bless.

P.S. For years I was told that POLYGAMY was an unwanted but NECESSARY solution to take care of all those single women in the Church with no chance of ever getting married... because there wasn't enough men... Guess what... facts are to the contrary. I did my own research - took two days - to dig up the original census data for 1850 and 1860 for UT territory...

And original data shows that there was LESS Females than Males in UT in both 1850 and 1860! Thus, if polygamy was based on the need (as I was told many times) It should have been POLYANDRY w multiple husbands to a woman... That's my kind of Faith =) 1850 6020 males 5310 females; 1860: 44121 males 42659 females

SOURCES [...]
[...]

59 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

An essential perspective

Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2014

Verified Purchase

One cannot ponder the life of Joseph Smith without pondering the perspective of the one who was closest to him. In researching my own biographical novel of the Prophet, I found this book invaluable. I read the three main biographies about Smith, by Brodie, Hill, and Bushman, but looking at the man through Emma's eyes gave an essential insight. Only then could I understand the depths of his deceptions in the agonizing polygamy affair, and I rejoiced when she was able to challenge him by organizing the female Saints against the practice. This detail in Smith's story is ignored by the other biographers. A picture gradually emerged of a noble, intelligent woman who sometimes infuriated me by her self-imposed blindness. What terror kept her from ever looking at the plates under their cloth covering? Why did she, time after time, allow nubile girls into a household controlled by a Prophet who could not control himself? Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, and three times, and four times...? And so, in the end, she was the enigma the title suggests.

9 people found this helpful

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