This was a bit of a slog sometimes—one of the reasons why it took me so long to read and why it didn’t get a full five hearts—but it’s one of the most interesting things I’ve read recently.

This is supposedly one of the great classics of Mormon fiction, though I hadn’t heard of it before BCC Press released a free ebook of it a few weeks ago. It is a frank but respectful tale of Mormon pioneers “settling” St. George in the mid-to-late 19th century. It is unflinching in its discussion of the difficulties of polygamy and the abuse of ecclesiastical leadership, but it is also reverent in its treatment of the pioneers’ commitments and beliefs.

Having pioneer ancestors myself, I was interested in the ways that this made me think differently about them. It seemed to justify both my distancing from the LDS Church but my holding on to that heritage.

• Mormonism
• The Giant Joshua
• Maurine Whipple
• Mormon pioneers