A Quote + a Book Recommendation

Only the madman is absolutely sure.

Robert Anton Wilson, novelist (1932-2007)

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"The 19th Wife" by David Ebershoff is one I don't want to put down. until I finish it. On the copyright page, the author says:

"This is a work of historical fiction. Apart from the well-known actual people and events, and locales that figure in the narrative, all names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to current events or locales, or living persons, is entirely coincidental."

I must say it is hard to remember that when you are reading it; several of the names are familiar and the events could have been real. It is very hard to know where fact ends and fiction takes over (if you are not previously acquainted with the history.)

Learning about other religions, their life-styles; especially those of the Amish and Mormon Church, has always fascinated me for some reason. The only fault I can find with this book is that it jumps from era to era and group to group in such a way that it is difficult to sort out any continuity in the parallel story lines. I would have appreciated a time line chart for each era.

Did Brigham Young have a wife (among his many) named Ann Eliza, who wrote a book denouncing plural marriage in 1875? I don't know. But the possibility surely makes for a fascinating story here. Author Ebershoff writes the story of Ann Eliza, her antecedents and descendants simultaneously with a modern story of a young man who was run out of his family's community (by the then current prophet) for what seems to me to be the very minor offense of holding hands with the daughter of one of his mother's sister-wives. (I hope I am remembering that correctly.) The fact that he is gay (an unforgivable offense for Mormons) seems to be at odds with the stated reason for getting rid of him, and his mother's subsequent arrest for the murder of his father is the bulk of that storyline.

I asked, and was told by a blog friend that the Mormon Church outlawed polygamy in 1890, and that current groups in the news, such as the one in Texas, have nothing to do with the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, whom we commonly refer to as "Mormons". In this book, the current group of people who practice polygamy resides in Utah, and I am unclear if this is an actual group - or a completely fictional one. It occurs to me that the group could be real, but his depiction of it may not. Does that make sense? Helping to confuse me is the fact that I watch Big Love on HBO. Whether it is true or not, the show is well acted and I enjoy it.

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The paragraphs above were written last night, before I finished the book. Most of my questions were answered in the Author's Note and Acknowledgements. He states:

"This is a work of fiction. It is not meant to be read as a stand-in for a biography of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young, or any of the other historical figures who appear in it. Even so, it's human nature to wonder if a historical novel is inspired by real people and real events, and if so to what degree......"

"The mighty lens of history has enabled me to see Ann Eliza's life as she could not, and I have used this perspective to tell her story in a way that perhaps broadens it and connects it to our day. All of this is a long-winded answer to the original question, is The 19th Wife based on real people and real events? Yes. Have I invented much of it? Yes, for that is what novelists do."

So Ann Eliza did exist, and she did write a book (1875) about her experience with polygamy. She was not the actual 19th wife, although that was what she was called. Apparently, Brigham took many more wives and many of them were married in secret. When he "left the bed" of an older wife to marry a new wife, her number was re-used. There is so much of interest to learn in this book!