David Ebershoff

The multiplicity of perspectives serves to broaden Ebershoff's depiction not only of polygamy, but also of the people whose lives it informs. And this gives his novel a rare sense of moral urgency

A marvellous evocation of pioneer life... But his sympathy is with Eliza Young and other women trapped in what the Mormons termed 'celestial marriages'

Beautifully written... genuinely enthralling

Engrossing... vivid... packed with historical illumination, unforgettable characters... the greatest triumph is the way all this material illuminates the larger landscape of faith

Intelligent, compelling, with several decent twists

Delivers a dazzling high wire act between fact and fiction, and shines light from every angle on the divisive topic of American polygamy in a compelling and timely novel

Danny Scheinmann, author of Random Acts of Heroic Love

Coming on the heels of the newsmaking raid on the FLDS polygamist sect in Texas, this lyrical yet fact-packed epic about the Mormon practice of plural marriage is both timely and transporting... a literary tour de force

Ebershoff's sensitive and topical tale of hijacked religion and sexual tyranny, true community and freedom, provides much food for thought in the mode of such seriously popular writers as Jodi Picoult

The 19th Wife is a big book, in every sense of the word... it does that thing all good novels do: it entertains us

Employing the dual narrive idea with aplomb... dishes the dirt on what it's really like being one of many wives. Funny, profound and utterly transporting

This exquisite tour de force explores the dark roots of polygamy and its modern-day fruit in a renegade cult... compelling... essential reading

Publishers Weekly (starred/'Pick of theWeek')

Wonderful... like A.S.Byatt, whose brilliant novel Possession also split the narrative between time periods, Ebershoff uses a series of fictionalized documents to add depth and perspective to his tale... thought-provoking

Fascinating... demonstrates abundant virtuosity, as he convincingly inhabits the voices of both a nineteenth-century Mormon and a contemporary gay youth excommunicated from the church, while also managing to say something about the mysterious power of faith

Both strands of the novel come together to form a fascinating overview of "Mormondom". The day-to-day realities of polygamy are brought home in the small domestic detail

Weaves a surprising amount of information into the dual narratives... [teaches] about Mormonism and the cancer of polygamy at its heart...well crafted to maintain suspense... at its best when he describes the Utah desert and mountains, where he finds brutality, violence and bucolic beauty

A great, compulsive read... the combination of faith, murder, sex, salvation and ultimately, love, is a heady mix

Although disturbing and heart-wrenching in parts, this book is an informative, and engaging whodunnit thriller

The gripping Richard and Judy bookclub page turner

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 accused of the crime. 
Over a century earlier, Ann Eliza Young, the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, Prophet and Leader of the Mormon Church, tells the sensational story of how her own parents were drawn into plural marriage, and how she herself battled for her freedom and escaped her powerful husband, to lead a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. 
Bold, shocking and gripping, The 19th Wife expertly weaves together these two narratives: a pageturning literary mystery and an enthralling epic of love and faith.

David Ebershoff

Praise for The 19th Wife

The multiplicity of perspectives serves to broaden Ebershoff's depiction not only of polygamy, but also of the people whose lives it informs. And this gives his novel a rare sense of moral urgency

A marvellous evocation of pioneer life... But his sympathy is with Eliza Young and other women trapped in what the Mormons termed 'celestial marriages'

Beautifully written... genuinely enthralling

The multiplicity of perspectives serves to broaden Ebershoff's depiction not only of polygamy, but also of the people whose lives it informs. And this gives his novel a rare sense of moral urgency

A marvellous evocation of pioneer life... But his sympathy is with Eliza Young and other women trapped in what the Mormons termed 'celestial marriages'

Beautifully written... genuinely enthralling

The multiplicity of perspectives serves to broaden Ebershoff's depiction not only of polygamy, but also of the people whose lives it informs. And this gives his novel a rare sense of moral urgency

A marvellous evocation of pioneer life... But his sympathy is with Eliza Young and other women trapped in what the Mormons termed 'celestial marriages'

Beautifully written... genuinely enthralling

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