Maxwell's Reviews > The 19th Wife

"Even so, history has one flaw. It is a subjective art, no less than poetry or music. The true historian has two sources: the written record and the witness's testimony."

In The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff plays the role of historian, re-creating and unpacking the mysteries of Ann Eliza Young's tumultuous life as a sister wife to Brigham Young. Interwoven with this narrative is the story of an excommunicated young gay man, Jordan Scott, from a compound in Utah whose mother, coincidentally also the nineteenth wife of a Mormon man, is accused of murdering her husband.

Ebershoff examines mystery—both religious and procedural—in this story. He looks at faith: what is it? How do we know if we have it? What does it mean to strip someone of their faith? And what are the repercussions of leaving faith behind in pursuit of something even more elusive: truth?

Both Ann Eliza and Jordan, in their own ways, yearn for truth to be revealed, publicly, yes, but also to themselves. To know the truth but also to make it known as an act of liberation. For Ann Eliza it's to free her religion from polygamy; for Jordan, to free his accused mother from prison.

I think many of us have arrived at crossroads in our lives where we must confront what we believe to be true and choose the mystery. This quote from the novel sums it up pretty well: "Indeed, there are some mysteries that must exist without answer. In the end we must accept them for what they are: complex and many-sided, ornamented with clues and theories, yet ultimately unknowbale—like life itself."