Review: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker

Every single week I get a bunch of books in my mailbox or on my doorstep. Some of them I have agreed to review but most are just sent on the off chance that I might choose to review them. It is a little like Christmas every day, which is fantastic. Some of the books I receive are not books in genres that I like or about subjects that interest me, so they go into the "giveaway or read when I have nothing else left (HA HA!) pile. Many are historical fiction, which I love, or other types of fiction that I might muster up an interest for eventually...they go into the ever expanding to-be-read piles that clutter up my house.

Very, very rarely does a book come in that I did not ask for, have never heard of before, but that catches my attention immediately. For me to take it out of the package, sit down and start to read it? Seriously, it has happened maybe two or three times in the last two plus years. This one, happily, was one. By page seven I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face. Here's the dedication:

Mom and Dad,

I could never have done this without your faith, support, and constant encouragement. Thank you for teaching me to believe in myself, in God, and in my dreams.

This book....aside from the nine F-words, thirteen Sh-words, four A-holes, page 257, and the entire Warren Beatty chapter....is dedicated to you.

You might want to avoid chapters twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, anything I quote Mom saying, and most of the end as well.

Sorry. Am I still cute as a button?

Love,

Elna

How, I ask you, could you resist reading on after an opening like that? In her first book, Elna Baker takes you along with her on her life since she moved to New York at age eighteen. She grapples with big questions: religion, faith, sex, love and life in an endearingly honest and frequently hilarious way. I think she's cute as a button, too. And I loved this book!

But don't take my word for it...here are some clips of the author herself, telling some of the stories that are included in the book. Bet you'll be hooked, too.

You can visit Elna's webpage and blog for more information about her! The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance is published by Plume/Penguin, ISBN 978-0-452-29649-7. Many thanks to Penguin for randomly sending me a wonderful book!!

Review: The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

In his new novel, David Ebershoff paints the history of the Mormon religion through the eyes of Ann Eliza Young, the so-called nineteenth wife of Brigham Young. Ann Eliza's parents were there when Joseph Smith was forming what would become the Mormon church and she grew up within it. When she was grown she was pursued by Brigham Young and eventually married him against her better judgement.

Several years later she was basically abandoned by her husband. Though she was called wife number nineteen, in reality Brigham Young likely had fifty or more wives. Of course, his time was finite and he was a busy man. He was unable (and unwilling) to spend time with all of them. So Ann Eliza famously broke with the church, left Brigham, Utah and her family. She wrote a well known book in 1874 in which she told her story and described to the world the problems that plural marriages causes. She took her story to Washington and convinced President Grant to pass laws that put pressure on the Morman church to end the practice of polygamy.

Woven in between Ann Eliza's story is the narrative of twenty year old Jordan Scott. Jordan's story highlights how the children of some of today's splinter polygamists, known as the Firsts, continue to suffer. There are cases of young men in their early teens ejected from the group, dumped on the highway in the middle of the night with no money or possessions. The reduction of the young men leaves the young women for the older men in the group to take as an additional wife. Through Jordan's eyes we see the intolerance, isolation and loneliness of some of the women and children involved.

This was an absorbing, fascinating book. I loved the historical sections and the fact that it was based on a true story. The author did a wonderful job of showing the formation of the religion from the beginning, using the characters to give the reader an inside look.

The 19th Wife is published by Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6397-0

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to participate in this tour! Upcoming stops are:

Friday, Nov. 7th: Educating Petunia
Monday, Nov. 10th: The Literate Housewife
Wednesday, Nov. 12th: Diary of an Eccentric
Friday, Nov. 14th: Book Chase

Order The 19th Wife from Amazon