The 19th Wife: the conclusion

Are you satisfied with the resolution of the book? Why or why not? What do you think really happened to Ann Eliza Young?

The 19th Wife: on historical fiction

Is there a danger in people reading historical fiction like The 19th Wife and relying on it as fact? What responsibility does a reader have to go look up things on his or her own? How much obligation to the “truth” does a writer have when writing historical fiction, especially when his or her work is so heavily based on a real person who left a real memoir, like Ann Eliza Young did (Wife no. 19)?

The 19th Wife: escape

In The 19th Wife, Ann Eliza recounts her story of fleeing a polygamous marriage; this is contrasted with the stories of some of the Mesadale women attempting to leave their polygamous marriages and families. In what ways are these stories, separated by more than 100 years, similar? In what ways are they different?