Ann Eliza Young (1844–1925)
Author of Wife No. 19
About the Author
Image credit: Boston : Armstrong & Co. (Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division LC-USZC4-6668)
Works by Ann Eliza Young
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Denning, Ann Eliza Webb Dee Young
- Birthdate
- 1844-09-13
- Date of death
- 1925
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Places of residence
- Nauvoo, Illinois, USA
- Occupations
- autobiographer
women's rights activist - Relationships
- Young, Brigham (husband)
- Organizations
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Short biography
- Ann Eliza Young, née Webb, was one of Brigham Young's wives and later became an advocate for women's rights and a critic of polygamy.
Members
Reviews
Statistics
- Works
- 2
- Members
- 85
- Popularity
- #214,931
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 4
- ISBNs
- 20
Even by contemporary standards, the writing is stilted and dull. An aggressive editor could easily cut out 95% of the text, and still retain everything of real interest to a modern reader.
For the most part, this book is an impassioned series of first, second, and thirdhand stories about life inside Mormon society from the perspective of an Ex-Mormon Ex-polygamist activist. The author's agenda is explicit and her passionate opposition to her ex-husband and ex-religion are very genuine. Occasionally she strays into preaching or polemic territory, but for the most part she maintains a dry descriptive matter-of-fact tone.
I was surprised at the occasional sarcasm and humor in this book. At one point the author recalls that she was given a new name, Sarah, and later on learned that every other Mormon woman she ever met also received the same new name. She then observed that this practice should make it easier for their husbands to remember their many wives new names, and to call all of them at the same time when the occasion arises in the afterlife.
Overall, I'm glad I picked this book up, but I wish I'd started skimming it immediately instead of reading the first 400 pages consecutively. My endurance wore down, and I only read selected portions of the remainder of the book.… (more)