The 19th Wife, a Novel by David Ebershoff

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Roy
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The 19th Wife, a Novel by David Ebershoff

Post by Roy »

I am conflicted about this book.

First is that it is historical fiction yet the story of Ann Eliza (Brigham's infamous 19th wife) reads as though it were not. I read almost the first half of the book thinking that those portions were historical.

There is a section in the end in the author's "notes and acknowledgements" where this fictionalization is made clear. I would have liked to see that part up front. I also appreciate chapter footnotes in works of historical fiction. These footnotes can explain what we know historically and how the author may have deviated from it for dramatic effect.

I enjoy reading historical fiction about LDS events by LDS members (think Work and the Glory) because I enjoy seeing how we make choices in how we tell the stories to fit our modern narrative and our intended audience. David Ebershoff is not LDS and I suppose his target audience isn't either. Just as we LDS tend towards whitewashing our history - he also simplified it to fit his narrative theme. He takes the premise that polygamy is bad and harms everyone without going into any theological reasons why it might have been taught in the first place. These simplifications are well summarized in a fictional Master's Thesis for one of the books character's found in the Epilogue.
"[Ann Eliza's] reports on the moral and spiritual debasement of the nineteenth-century plural wife are more accurate than generally recognized....In truth, polygamy generally compromised the moral and spiritual development of its women and, equally important, its children....plural marriage could compromise the husband's soul as much as, if not more than, that of the plural wife. The false promise of sexual freedom, cloaked as it was in religious righteousness, led some men into an abundance of marriages they were not prepared to sustain financially, emotionally, or spiritually. This too is an awkward revelation, for it suggests our beloved leaders Joseph and Brigham, each of whom had at least half a hundred wives, were morally compromised by their conjugal indulgences."
I have never done a Master's Thesis myself, but I assume that unsupported and unreferenced sweeping generalizations about the state of people's souls are not appropriate. For a novelist this might fly and I suppose that David is shoehorning this fictionalized thesis into the book to summarize his own conclusions about polygamy. I just found it terribly out of place for a Master's level thesis.

As I stated before - historical fiction can be interesting in how the author selectively tells and even changes the historical story.

However there is one quote from David's book that I find completely reckless.
According to Brigham himself, a woman must never reveal [her sacred undergarments] to a man, even her husband. Eliza Snow had penned a letter to the women of Zion on the subject: "At the time of connubiality, the wife must open a slot in her sacred garments no bigger than necessary to permit the husband his entry. At no time should she preen before him in anything less than what she might wear on the street, nor reveal to neither his eyes nor hands what lay beneath."
In Googling to find the veracity of this quote I found a place on the ex-Mormon threads where they took this quote and used this novel as the source. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this idea that is so foreign to me?

OTOH, There was also a description of the 19th century initiatory with the participant bathed in a zinc tub and generously anointed with oil. This seems to be largely historically accurate for the time period. I also found the depictions of the zealotry during the Utah Reformation interesting.

So I suppose the ultimate question is this - what obligation does a historical fiction novelist have to deliver an honest depiction of history or at least identify for the reader where they are diverging from the path.
"It is not so much the pain and suffering of life which crushes the individual as it is its meaninglessness and hopelessness." C. A. Elwood

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"I struggle now with establishing my faith that God may always be there, but may not always need to intervene" Heber13
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Shawn
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Re: The 19th Wife, a Novel by David Ebershoff

Post by Shawn »

According to Brigham himself, a woman must never reveal [her sacred undergarments] to a man, even her husband. Eliza Snow had penned a letter to the women of Zion on the subject: "At the time of connubiality, the wife must open a slot in her sacred garments no bigger than necessary to permit the husband his entry. At no time should she preen before him in anything less than what she might wear on the street, nor reveal to neither his eyes nor hands what lay beneath."
I hope this is bull crap!
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Holy Cow
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Re: The 19th Wife, a Novel by David Ebershoff

Post by Holy Cow »

Roy, I started reading The 19th Wife about a year ago. I had a similar experience that you did. At first, it disgusted me, and then once I learned that it wasn't all historical fact, I threw everything I read out the window. It had an obvious bias, and I've tried to read books that are historically accurate, and have plenty of notes and references. I don't throw many books in the trash, even when I didn't really like them, but I had no qualms with tossing this one.
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Orson
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Re: The 19th Wife, a Novel by David Ebershoff

Post by Orson »

You can read All Eliza's own account. "Wife no. 19" As any single perspective will be it is filled with bias, but at least it is an authentic account of the woman's own life.
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I first found faith, and thought I had all truth. I then discovered doubt, and claimed a more accurate truth. Now I’ve greeted paradox and a deeper truth than I have ever known.
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