The 19th Wife (2008) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters/People edit see section history

• Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young: The herione in the story. Eliza Young was an actual wife of Brigham Young, the 2nd President of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Ann Eliza left Brigham Young and escaped from Salt Lake City to lobby the nation, Congress, and Pressident Grant to put an end to polygamy.
• Beckylyn Scott: The modern day 19th wife accused of her husband's murder. Mother to Jordan. Very faithful to the Firsts beliefs.
• Elizabeth Churchill Webb: Ann Eliza's mother. Converted to Mormonism upon hearing Joseph Smith speak. Chauncey's 1st wife.
• Johnny Drury: A lost kid no more that 15 years old, excommunicated from the Firsts, who tagalongs with Jordan Scott in the contemporary story.
• Jordan Scott: Son of the current day 19th wife. Was excommunicated at age 14 for holding hands with a girl.
• Brigham Young: Powerful Leader of the LDS. Took over after Joseph Smith.
• Joseph Smith: Founder of the Mormon Faith
• Gilbert Webb: Ann Eliza's Half Brother through their mother
• Elizabeth "Lydia" Taft Webb: Was house maid to the Webb family and became Chauncey's second wife.
• Thomas McBride: Love Interest of Jordan Scott.
• Maureen: Mr. Heber's assistant.
• Chauncey G. Webb: Ann Eliza's father. He constructed wagons.
• Mr. Heber: Attorney for BeckyLyn
• Mrs. Aaron Webb: Ann Eliza's brother. Had a dozen wives and was devoted to LDS. Eventually led a group who started the Firsts when the LDS denounced celestial marriage.
• Mrs. Cox Webb: An English woman that a boardinghouse in London. Converted to LDS under Chauncey and Gilbert. She becomes Chauncey's 5th wife.
• Lorenzo Leonard Dee: Second son of Ann Eliza and James Dee. The only one of her sons involved in the novel.
• Hiram Alton: Husband of Queenie, Jordan's step-sister. He has done the investigation on Jordan's father's murder.
• Sister Karen: Works in the post office at Mesadale - the center of the Firsts. Sympathetic to those trying to escape the Firsts.
• Roland: Jordan's Friend.
• Sister Rita: BeckyLyn's husband's first wife. She does not like Jordan.
• James Dee: Ann Eliza's first husband and father of her two sons.
• Amelia Young: Brigham's famous "favorite" wife.
• Virginie Cox: Her mother is Mrs. Cox and she is from London, England.
• Margaret Oakes Webb: A convert from England. She is sisters with Eleanor and becomes Chauncey's 4th wife.
• Eleanor Oakes Webb: A convert from England. She is Margaret's sister. She becomes Chauncey's 3rd wife - and his only regret.
• Kelly Dee: Masters student at BYU studying the life of Ann Eliza.
• James Edward "Eddie" Dee: First son of Ann Eliza and James Dee.
• Major Pond: Travels with Ann Eliza while she lectures through out the country against pologamy.
• Diantha Webb: Ann Eliza's half sister. Lydia's Daughter.
• Lucinda: A friend of Ann Eliza before she married James Dee.
• Mrs. Myton: Elizabeth's neighbor in Payson.
• Connie Myton Webb: Aaron Webb's first wife.
• Amelia Folsom Young: Brigham's favorite wife. She's the 17th wife and very beautiful.
• Mary Van Cott Young: Brigham's kind-hearted and selfless 18th wife.
• Major James Burton Pond: Formerly of the Third Wisconsin Cavalry, ally of John Brown, and now a reported for the Daily Tribune. He is Ann Eliza's first boarder.
• Judge Albert Hagan: A judge. He is an old Confederate colonel, wise man of legal affairs, and mineral attorney.
• Mrs. Hagen: Judge Hagen's wife.
• Reverand Stratton: The first man of cloth outside her faith that Ann Eliza met.
• Mrs. Stratton: Wife of Reverand Stratton. She helps Ann Eliza leave.
• Joe Place: Add a description of this character.
• Jen
• Mrs. Brigham Young
• Zucker
• Harkness
• Deb Savidhoffer
• Mr. Leggett
• Robert D. Foster
• Mr. Cummings
• Mr. Morley
• Aunt Twiss
• Joseph F. Smith
• Sarah Barringer Gordon
• Maeve Cooper
• Hyrum
• Mr. Reef
• Willard Richards
• Mrs. Mack
• Judge McKean
• Jacob
• Eliza R. Snow
• Jenetta
• Irene Haskell
• Wilford Woodruff
• Cunningham
• Brother Sidney Rigdon
• James Redpath
• Almira
• Mrs. A. G. Paddock
• Mrs. Hagan
• O'Conner
• E. L. T. Harrison
• Mr. James Blaine
• Elder Hovey
• Alexandra
• Mary Ann Angell
• Harriet Beecher Stowe
• Kimberly
• Mrs. Jones
• Sister Sherry
• Jim Hooke
• Christine Lee
• Finley Free
• Kate Medina
• Mrs. Victoria Woodhull
• Mrs. T.B.H. Stenhouse
• Mary Ann Turley
• Joseph Manna
• Mrs. Harmony
• Lawrence
• Gordon Hinckley
• Charles Green
• Elsa
• Rosemary
• Kane
• Mr. Fletcher
• Mary P. Sprague
• Queenie
• Elektra
• Mr. Joseph Young
• Mr. Stratton
• Emma Hale Smith
• Clarissa Young Spencer
• Drusilla
• Brother Kirkpatrick
• Mrs. Ann Eliza Young
• A. Lincoln
• Wallace Stegner
• Ronald C. White
• St. George
• Mr. Pope
• REDPATH
• H.G.

Quotes edit see section history

• “...Now that I have recounted my own memories, and peered into the well of my soul, I can see that my daughter has portrayed me with accuracy. Her words have destroyed me because they are true. She concludes her long assessment by writing, "In the end, I suppose my greatest disappointment has been in realizing my father, like Joseph and Brigham before him, tried to shroud his passions in the mantle of religion. He used God to defend his adultery, I have yet to hear him acknowledge his lies." Yet some truths come too late. I am, I realize, but a man.”

  Chauncey G. Webb

• “I am technically still a member of the Later-day Saints matters none to me. I do not say this to offend you. I should think I would offend you more if I did not write in full honesty, especially on the subject of faith. In my adulthood I flirted with the Episcopals. Rosemary was a Catholic, although she disagreed with nearly everything they proclaimed. What do I consider myself now? A man attempting to be good. In this endeavor I have no use for church and steeple. If another mand does, I only wish he finds what he needs.”

  Lorenzo Dee

• “Elder Hovey asked several women on the spot, "Will you forgive your husband and permit him to marry the woman he has wronged in order to prevent his eternal damnation and hers?" Tell me, does a woman put to such a question have any option in her reply?”

  Ann Eliza Young

• “Will you love your brothers and sisters likewise, when they have a sin that cannot be atoned for without the shedding of their blood? Will you love that man or woman well enough to shed their blood? That is what Jesus meant.This is loving our neighbor as our self; if he needs help, help him; if he wants salvation and it necessary to spill his blood upon the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it.”

  Brigham Young

• “I have no idea what will happen after I die, yet I know one thing for sure: neither do you.”

  Ann Eliza Young to an LDS Ward Teacher

• “There is a great shock to seeing a building you've known since childhood destroyed. There are certain structures in our lives - our first home, our first school, our first house of worship - which we naively believe will stand forever. To see these toppled bluntly delivers life's coldest lesson: Time will take all.”

  Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young

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• Yet the head does not need to turn and the eyes need not gaze back for the heart to remain behind.

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• There are certain structures in our lives—our first home, our first school, our first house of worship—which we naïvely believe will stand forever. To see these toppled bluntly delivers life’s coldest lesson: Time will take all.

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• Even so, history has one flaw. It is a subjective art, no less so than poetry or music. The true historian has two sources: the written record and the witness’s testimony. This is as it should be. Yet one is memory and the other is written, quite often, from memory. There is nothing to be done about this defect except acknowledge it for what it is. Yet this is your field’s Achilles’ heel. You say in your letter the historian writes the truth. Forgive me, I must disagree. The historian writes a truth. The memoirist writes a truth. The novelist writes a truth.

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• How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Is that religion or just plain wisdom?

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• What do I consider myself now? A man attempting to be good. In this endeavor I have no use for church and steeple. If another man does, I only wish he finds what he needs.

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• I believe most men, even the greatest, can offer salvation only once in their lifetime; for if he succeeds (and most do not), he will overestimate his powers and thereafter will behave recklessly.

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• This was the doctrine of Blood Atonement—any man, woman, or child who did not believe in the doctrines of the Church, or the words of its leaders, could rightfully be destroyed by the sword. The Saints, already hot with religious fever, received the Prophet’s words as Wisdom and Truth. Brigham had established his new doctrine and sent the Saints on their way to kill in the name of faith. Terrified, I broke into tears. Although I was young, Brigham’s meaning was clear to me.

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• I have heard an esteemed medical doctor say that illness is the loneliest state. I would argue that doubt deserves that claim.

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• daguerreotypes of the Westward-ho family: the bearded father in suspenders, the mother in an apron (she always thinner than her brood), the children with dark half-moons of exhaustion beneath their eyes. This is who we were, any American family waging everything on the West.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Utah Territory: Area that Brigham Young chose to create his Zion. I was away from the population.
• Payson, Utah: Where Elizabeth settled after Chauncey went to do his mission in London.
• Denver, Colorado: Mentioned in historic and modern portions of the book.
• California: Lorenzo Leonard Smith settled in California
• Carthage, Illinois: Where Joseph Smith Junior, the Prophet of the LDS was killed.
• Nauvoo, Illinois: The settlement before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Lion House: Brigham Young's main house for his wives.javascript:{}
• Beehive House: Brigham Young's headquarters.
• Mesadale, Utah: Modern day location of the large group of Firsts from which both Jordan and Johnny were excommunicated. Formerly known as Red Creek.
• Kirtland, Ohio: The original settlement for LDS.
• London, England: Where Chauncey Webb and Gilbert Webb were sent to do missionary work.

Organizations edit see section history

• Postmormon: For those questioning all things Mormon

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Deseret: Name used by the Mormons for the Utah terratory in the late 1800s.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. David Ebershoff (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Mystery & Thrillers

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• David Ebershoff: The 19th Wife: Supplemental information about the book and also links to historical documents.

Books That Influenced This Book edit see section history