The 19th Wife

I have been working my way through this doorstop of a book for quite some time now and I'm finally nearing the end. It's by David Ebershoff and is about the Mormons past and present and polygamy.

Jordan - an outcast from the Firsts - the polygamous bit of the Latter Day Saints - has heard his mother, a 19th wife, has been arrested for the murder of his father. He feels she could not possibly have done it and sets out to prove she's innocent. His story is interweaved with that of the 19th wife of Brigham Young - Ann Eliza. She escaped from the sect and travelled round America giving talks on the evil of polygamy. As a result of the publicity the church was forced to disown the practice and today it is only the Firsts who continue to practice it even though it is technically illegal in America.

It was this sect which hit the headlines last year because of the child abuse accusations which were subsequently found not to be true. It fascinates me that this way of life can continue even though it is illegal. If people want to live like that I have no problem from a moral point of view but judging by the small spate of autobiographies which have been published over the last few years by people who have escaped, it is far from clear whether people live like this of their own free will. That I do have a problem with.

Even tho this book is marketed as fiction it is clear a lot of it is fact and based on recorded testimonies. I've found it interesting though if you have no interest in this murky part of America's past and present you might find it a little dry.

Books etc

Currently I am on the last one of Veronica Heley's Ellie Quicke series - which I read for the first time a while back. I decided to go back to the beginning and read them all again - whereupon you find things - amusing or interesting - that you'd not noticed before. It's really good the way the characters develop as well over the years. These books are in the cosy sub genre of crime writing, but deal with some very modern crimes - child abuse (Murder of Innocence); attack by dangerous dog (Murder in the Park); financial shenanigans (Murder by Committee); food poisoning (Murder by Bicycle); identity theft (Murder of Identity); suicide (Murder by Suicide); honour killing (Murder in the Garden); drugs (Murder at the Altar); rip off builders and tradesmen (Murder by Accident). Throughout the series there is the issue of how to manage the care of elderly relatives and how to say no to adult children, no to speak of childcare issues where mothers work full time. There are well written believable characters dealing with everyday issues and crime. This author deserves to be better known in my opinion.

I am also reading 'Escape' by Carolyn Jessop. I'm not a fan of the misery memoir category which is so popular at the moment but this is gripping stuff. Carolyn was married for 15 years to Merrill Jessop and a member of the fundamentalist sect of the Latter Day Saints - Mormons. This is the polygamous bit of the church. It's all arranged marriages with men having several wives - chosen for them by the elders of the church. Women have no say in their lives and are treated as property. They have to obey their husbands, there is no contraception so people end up with loads of children. Carolyn at the time I've got to in the book is one of 6 wives and between them they have 34 children. The set up works if the wives get on, but frequently they are rivals and bullying is rife. The women are always married off at between 18 and 20. Sometimes they do get to go to college - Carolyn went - but had to take some of her stepdaughters with her as chaperones. This is happening today in America - supposedly the most civilised country in the world. Women are still being forced into Stepford Wife roles. Words fail me really. Carolyn did escape but even knowing that I am compelled to read on . . . .