Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Red Water : A Novel by Judith Freeman ISBN: 0-385-72069-6 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 08 April, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.57 (21 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A work of fiction
Comment: I have the privilege of having a long Mormon heritage. My family came west with Brigham Young and were among those sent to Arizona to settle. While this book is based on historical events and people, as Ms. Freeman points out, it is a work of fiction and should be read as such. It is beautifully written. It can invoke such strong emotions. It is not a book about the Mountain Meadows Massacre (undeniably a horrible incident that should never have happened or gone unpunished). It is a book about three very different women who were involved in a polygamous marriage to one of the most strong willed and charismatic men of the time. It is their stories of survive in a harsh place and in harsh times. Whether you agree with the doctrine of the Mormon church of the time is irrelevant. This is a wonderfully written book of three women who along with the other Morman women of the time changed the face of the west forever. This book is more than worth your time and effort to read. Just don't read it for history or a religion lesson
Rating: 4
Summary: Interesting History of a Terrible Event
Comment: I know this is fiction and Freeman says at the end of the book : "this book is a work of the imagination" and she cautions readers NOT to read it as a version of history.
Veiled in its secret ceremonies and rituals, Mormonism is always going to be looked at suspiciously. Surely their leaders must know this and figure it is the price they must pay.
That said, I am astounded that any church ever allowed any man to have 19 wives. That is just inexplicable but the patriarchal Mormon religion did allow this horror to exist. "Red Water" allows us to look inside a Mormon marriage with eight "present wives" and see what their lives were like. I am fairly sure that this is historically accurate. This community of females are the main core of the book and we come to know three of them very well. John Lee is seen only through their eyes and in most instances he is portrayed as a selfish and controlling man. This has nothing to do with the massacre, but with him as a human being.
(The massacre, in fact, occupies few pages of "Red Water" since it occurred prior to the beginning of the book.)
I thought that Freeman did terrific research and found it interesting the way she told the women's stories. Emma's story was very personal and done in the first person. Ann's story was shorter and told in the third person. Rachel's story was the shortest and was related via diary entries. Because her story was longer and more detailed, I felt that I got to know Emma the best.
The struggles and hardships endured by these early settlers of the West were incredibly difficult and often life-threatening. Lack of food, education,medical care, and the basics of life became the norm that was part of their daily travail. The harsh landscape, which is often their worst enemy, becomes almost another character.
While it is historically true that John Lee was the scapegoat for all who did the killing at the Mountain Meadow Massacre, I wonder what part Brigham Young had in this--did he really betray Lee? Was Lee so blinded by his faith that he remained silent after being arrested, rather than implicate other Mormons?
I plan to try to find some more answers. This book gave me a lot of food for thought.
Rating: 2
Summary: This book resembles other
Comment: I have read The Wives Of Short Creek and The Ferry Woman by
Gerald Grimmett and feel as if i am reading those books when i flip these pages?
Is it my imagination or has a big city publisher found a writer to compile a small town publishers books to create her own?
Ferry woman will stay on my shelves, this book is yard sale bound.
 |
Title: American Massacre : The Tragedy at Mountain Meadows, September 1857 by Sally Denton ISBN: 0375412085 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 17 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
 |
Title: Under the Banner of Heaven : A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer ISBN: 0385509510 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 15 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
 |
Title: Blood of the Prophets: Brigham Young and the Massacre at Mountain Meadows by Will Bagley ISBN: 0806134267 Publisher: Univ of Oklahoma Pr (Trd) Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $39.95 |
 |
Title: Mormonism Unveiled by John D. Lee ISBN: 0826327885 Publisher: University of New Mexico Press Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: Emma Lee by Juanita Brooks, Charles S. Peterson ISBN: 0874211212 Publisher: Utah State University Press Pub. Date: October, 1984 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
