I first starting reading the buzz about David Ebershoff’s novel The 19th Wife last summer, and recognized his name from another book I’ve had on my wishlist, The Danish Girl. I tucked the title away in the back of my mind as a possible future read, and that was that.

Then earlier this year I was contacted by TLC Book Tours as a possible reviewer for The 19th Wife. As with other book bloggers, I regularly get contacted by reps and authors wanting me to review their books. Typically, I don’t – I have enough books on my TBR stack to keep me going pretty much until the end of time. But The 19th Wife had intrigued me back when I first heard about it, and so I gratefully accepted. Once my review copy arrived, I spent a few moments savoring its bulk – more than 500 pages – which meant this was a story I could really immerse myself in. I was in the middle of planning library anniversary events at the time, and knew I wouldn’t be able to really enjoy the book if I had to limit myself to a few pages here and there. So I saved it for a time when I knew I would: my vacation. On the Memorial Day weekend, we flew to Virginia to spend several days with friends, and I started the book on the plane. I was immediately drawn into the story, and over the next few days, stayed up late each night reading, luxuriating in the knowledge that I didn’t have to worry about work or other mundane realities of life. Is there anything better than vacation reading?

The book is part historical fiction, part “ripped from the headlines” contemporary novel, and alternates back and forth between time periods and the different characters. Now, I know some people don’t like this tactic; I’ve had people say to me that they find it confusing. Personally, I quite enjoy layering a story in this manner, and seeing the parallels and connections between the two. There are actually two 19th wives in this novel: Ann Eliza Young, one of the Mormon prophet Brigham Young’s wives, and the other is a plural wife from a polygamous sect in rural Utah, accused of murdering her husband.

Ann Eliza, who did in fact exist, and in the 1870s wrote a book, Wife No. 19, exposing the Mormon practice of polygamy to the world, a practice which up to that point was mainly the stuff of rumor and suspicion, and played a part having the practice outlawed by the United States and banned by the church itself. Ebershoff delves into her life, from her youth as a devout Mormon, through her struggle with the tenet of celestial marriage, and eventual renunciation of her faith. He also shows us the greater society in which Ann Eliza lived, and the effects – both positive and negative – that early Mormonism had on its followers.

In the 21st century, Jordan Scott is a “lost boy,” a young man who several years earlier was kicked out of his community, left on the side of a lonely desert road one night by his own mother. Now living in Los Angeles, he discovers that his mother has been arrested, accused of murdering his father. Even though she abandoned him all those years ago, he goes back to Utah to see her, and find out what really happened. Along the way he befriends another “lost boy” and even manages to find a love interest. Jordan’s story is interesting, not just for the murder mystery aspect, but for the issues it alludes to for Mormonism: reconciling past practices with current beliefs, the existence of polygamous sects who claim to be the true Latter-Day Saints, the treatment of women and homosexuals in the modern church, and how the religion is viewed by society today.

The 19th Wife is a rich, layered tale, much like the history of Mormonism itself. For me, the best historical fiction blends fact and fiction together so expertly that I don’t know where one ends and the other begins, and that is just what Ebershoff has done with this novel. Reading this kind of historical fiction compels me to go out and search for the truth behind the story, which is just what I did as soon as I turned the last page of this book. There are some great resources on the book’s official website, as well as information about the author, his upcoming appearances and other books.  Also, I love that authors and publishers are now starting to do book trailers (previews are always my favorite part about going to the movies) and there’s a great one for The 19th Wife.