The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

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Jordan returns from California to Utah to visit his mother in jail. As a teenager he was expelled from his family and religious community, a secretive Mormon offshoot sect. Now his father has been found shot dead in front of his computer, and one of his many wives - Jordan's mother - is... read more

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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.

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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

Setting & Locations edit see section history

This book takes place in the mid-1880s and modern day mainly around Salt Lake City, Utah.

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.

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Organizations edit see section history

Postmormon: For those questioning all things Mormon

First Sentence edit see section history

According to the St. George Register, on a clear night last June, at some time between eleven and half-past, my mom—who isn’t anything like this—tiptoed down to the basement of the house I grew up in with a Big Boy .44 Magnum in her hands.