Libbie Grant

Fascinating account of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, and his wife Emma. I learned so much about the Latter Day Saints as the author obviously did much research and is very knowledgeable about that faith.

Joseph Smith apparently found plates of gold that he transcribed into the Book of Mormon. The beliefs of the church were so strange to the "Gentiles" and the Mormons called non-Mormons that there was much violence in chasing them from one place to another. The Mormon Wars in Missouri were especially violent.

Emma Smith is vividly portrayed as a woman whose marriage was almost on a whim; however, she took her vows seriously and stood behind Joseph through many hardships including his relationship with other women. The idea of polygyny was called the Blessing of Jacob - the men in the Old Testament had multiple wives and Smith believed that the Mormons should go back to the old ways (sometimes it seemed more like lust). Brigham Young is a young leader who often opposes Joseph and a man who Emma greatly distrusts.

The entire story is set in the midwest well before Young took the group to Utah. Very interesting read.… (mehr)

This novel is about Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith, the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The book is certainly based on a lot of research, and what I read goes along with what I read in my own online research. Joseph is portrayed as someone who wants to be a leader and who does have faith in God, but even his wife Emma is not sure about whether there are really golden pages that exist. Even though she assists with the translation, she never sees the plates at all. She supports her husband, however, even when he crosses into the realm of plural marriages, although she struggles with that. He apparently recanted on this practice on his deathbed. I learned a great deal about the violence associated with the founding of the LDS church and how they were so persecuted for years until they moved out of the then-USA into Utah. It was interesting to read about these violent episodes from some trustworthy internet sources. This book does not do much for the LDS church, however, leaving the reader to think that Joseph Smith was seeing things and that Brigham Young was a self-centered obnoxious power-hungry man who took over after Smith was killed. If you read it, I encourage you to do your own research and make your own decisions about what you read.… (mehr)