EMMALINE

A young girl emigrates from England to Utah with her parents, new Mormon converts, in O’Connell’s historical novel.

In the spring of 1854, 12-year-old Emmaline Kendall moves with her mother and father from their rural home in Wiltshire, England, to Liverpool. Shortly after arriving, her parents are inspired by Mormon missionaries to make the journey across the Atlantic and westward to Zion, the Utah Territory. Emmaline is immediately skeptical of the missionaries, but her parents “became so zealous with these teachings that they decided to join the church and be baptized.” The trans-Atlantic voyage on the Horizon is treacherous and uncomfortable, but not nearly as bad as the journey from Boston to Iowa City, which is still less dangerous than the final leg from Iowa City to Salt Lake City—during this portion of the trip, the emigrants must push handcarts holding their belongings across the terrain as they face dropping temperatures, buffalo stampedes, and exhaustion. Along the way, Emmaline grows progressively more skeptical of Mormon doctrine. As children die on the Horizon, Emmaline reflects, “Pneumonia, dehydration, fever. Each body buried at sea. Each one ripping a bigger hole in my faith.” Everything comes to a head when, shortly after her arrival in Zion, Emmaline learns that she’s expected to become the second wife of a prominent member of the bishop’s council. O’Connell has based this compelling story on her great-great-grandfather’s second of three plural wives; the author is the descendant of the third. She created Emmaline as “a composite character who [represents] every underage girl forced into marriage or held against her will, especially when trapped within a weaponized faith system.” Apart from a cold open that feels out of place, the writing is excellent. O’Connell indicts Mormon history for its racism and misogyny, but her approach is nuanced, and she includes Mormon characters who are sympathetic throughout the story. This engaging novel will appeal to fans of Jon Krakauer’s Under the Banner of Heaven (2003).

An emotional historical narrative with a unique perspective on Mormon history.