Books › The 19th wife
The 19th wife
a novel
First published 2008 · 831 pages
A sweeping dual-timeline saga that intertwines a gripping modern murder mystery with the hidden, claustrophobic history of a religious empire.
What it feels like
Reading this novel feels like unlocking a forbidden archive, where the whispers of the past bleed directly into the present. The narrative unfolds at a steady, deliberate pace, masterfully balancing the sweeping, lyrical history of a nineteenth-century crusade with the sharp, propulsive tension of a modern-day murder mystery. You are immersed in a secretive, often claustrophobic atmosphere that captures the heavy weight of religious extremism and the desperate yearning for autonomy. The prose shifts effortlessly between historical documents, memoirs, and contemporary investigation, creating a rich, textured reading experience. It will deeply satisfy readers who love dual-timeline historical fiction that doesn't shy away from complex moral questions, offering a journey from suffocating entrapment to hard-won liberation.
- Mood
- secretive
- claustrophobic
- atmospheric
- tense
- Tone
- earnest
- inquisitive
- empathetic
- suspenseful
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- religious extremism · hidden lives of women · escaping oppressive systems · search for identity · maternal sacrifice
- The writing
- Meticulously crafted and varied, seamlessly shifting between lyrical historical pastiche and sharp, contemporary suspense.
- The arc
- The narrative journeys from the suffocating grip of fundamentalist control to a hard-won, complex liberation.
- Who it's for
- Fans of sweeping, dual-timeline narratives who appreciate a blend of rigorous historical research and gripping mystery.
Content notes
- religious trauma
- domestic abuse
- murder
- child grooming
- homophobia
About the book
Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain.Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff's The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense. It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family's polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.Soon after Ann Eliza's story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds--a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father's death.And as Ann Eliza's narrative intertwines with that of Jordan's search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.From the Hardcover edition.
Description from Open Library.
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