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Bezig met laden... Wife No. 19 (1875)door Ann Eliza Young
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Ann Eliza Young doesn't have anything good to say about the early Mormon church. She portrays Joseph Smith and Brigham Young as opportunistic, charismatic leaders who think themselves above human law and encourage their followers to lie, steal and cheat from their gentile neighbors (thus causing the persecution they can then decry). She also portrays them as narcissistic, arbitrary, manipulative and downright homicidal. Her depiction of polygamy is overly emotional, as is the style of the day, showing polygamous men to be intent on getting themselves new young wives and leaving the old ones to fend for themselves in poverty. This is a memoir by the infamous 19th (or 27th, but probably 52nd) wife of Brigham Young, second "prophet" and leader of the Mormon Church, originally published in 1875. After reading The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff, I wanted to read this book as it was a major source for his novel. Ann Eliza's memoir was a sensation when she wrote it, as she was already famous from the series of lectures she'd been giving about polygamy after filing for divorce from Brigham Young, her second of three husbands. As can be expected, her accounting when talking about Brigham is going to be biased, but she's accurate about her life growing up in a polygamous household, and one can see where Ebershoff followed her memoir and where he took creative license with the story. This is a long book (over 600 pages), but worth the read. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
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A campaigner for women's rights This is a remarkable and controversial book by any standards. The verdict is still out on whether its author Ann Eliza Young (formerly Webb) presented her case with complete impartiality, but certainly its contents are sufficiently detailed to reveal shocking and extraordinary details of her experiences during her time as a pluralist wife of Brigham Young of the Latter-Day Saints. A child of Mormon parents, Ann entered into her marriage with Young when he was 67 years old and she was 24, a divorcee and the mother of two children. Her writings on her experiences of the Mormon lifestyle in Utah make gripping reading and her book is filled with accounts of privation, cruelty and violence. She filed for divorce from Brigham Young in 1873 and went on to become an outspoken advocate for the rights of women in 19th century America and an ardent and campaigning opponent of polygamous marriage. This book is her account of her life as one of Young's wives and on its original publication propelled Ann into the public arena and became a best seller of its day. It still makes compelling reading. Available in softcover and hardcover for collectors. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)289.3Religions Christian denominations Other Christian sects MormonismLC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Even by contemporary standards, the writing is stilted and dull. An aggressive editor could easily cut out 95% of the text, and still retain everything of real interest to a modern reader.
For the most part, this book is an impassioned series of first, second, and thirdhand stories about life inside Mormon society from the perspective of an Ex-Mormon Ex-polygamist activist. The author's agenda is explicit and her passionate opposition to her ex-husband and ex-religion are very genuine. Occasionally she strays into preaching or polemic territory, but for the most part she maintains a dry descriptive matter-of-fact tone.
I was surprised at the occasional sarcasm and humor in this book. At one point the author recalls that she was given a new name, Sarah, and later on learned that every other Mormon woman she ever met also received the same new name. She then observed that this practice should make it easier for their husbands to remember their many wives new names, and to call all of them at the same time when the occasion arises in the afterlife.
Overall, I'm glad I picked this book up, but I wish I'd started skimming it immediately instead of reading the first 400 pages consecutively. My endurance wore down, and I only read selected portions of the remainder of the book. ( )