The 19th Wife

The 19th Wife" is a fictional mash-up of polygamy from inside and out. The novel scans contemporary Utah, 19th-century Missouri and places and times in between. It is told by a 21st-century gay teenager who once belonged to the sect, a 19th-century Mormon wainwright and others.

The central story is a mystery. The 19th wife of a polygamist in Utah is accused of killing her husband while he chats online in his basement study. Her son, Jordan, returns to Mesadale to exonerate his mother, who had abandoned him by the side of the road when he was 14, purportedly for holding hands with one of his dozens of sisters, but really because polygamy requires jettisoning males to ensure proper gender distribution -- the so-called "lost boys."

Another narrative thread tells the story of historical Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Brigham Young. Ann Eliza brought polygamy to American consciousness when she published a memoir -- called, you guessed it, "The 19th Wife" -- and stumped for anti-polygamy laws.

Other chapters contain Wikipedia entries on Mormon history, 19th-century newspaper articles about polygamy and graduate research papers on Ann Eliza. All of these strands, down to the Wikipedia entries, are fiction.




I'm reading this but i not sure bout it yet.... Has anyone else read it?