Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith

Rating:
Summary: Piercing book--it really cut me to peaces.
Review: Hot diggety dog! I think I have been waiting all my life for such a book. You know that we all need information, since information is power to do all th0ings. I think this book made my day.

So we have Emma, the cryptic woman who we know so little about. In fact, everything mormon is a secret, mystery, and/or confusion. This book has got to be the capstone to all things written about Emma. Jospeh Smith wrote a leter from Jail, and he said said that he had an "inexpressible anxiety for his wife and children . . . who were entwined around his heart." (Letter to Emma 4 June 1844) He really hated her, but we have all tasted hate, so that is no excuse.

that sums it up, since she did move away, anmd all else is unknown. I have to give my hand to Linda and Verleen for this book of all books on this subject of all subjects.

They all must pay. Every one of them! As my Bible says, which is my only friend, they will pay forf evrthk

Rating:
Summary: Piercing book--it really cut me to peaces.
Review: Hot diggety dog! I think I have been waiting all my life for such a book. You know that we all need information, since information is power to do all th0ings. I think this book made my day.

So we have Emma, the cryptic woman who we know so little about. In fact, everything mormon is a secret, mystery, and/or confusion. This book has got to be the capstone to all things written about Emma. Jospeh Smith wrote a leter from Jail, and he said said that he had an "inexpressible anxiety for his wife and children . . . who were entwined around his heart." (Letter to Emma 4 June 1844) He really hated her, but we have all tasted hate, so that is no excuse.

that sums it up, since she did move away, anmd all else is unknown. I have to give my hand to Linda and Verleen for this book of all books on this subject of all subjects.

They all must pay. Every one of them! As my Bible says, which is my only friend, they will pay forf evrthk

Rating:
Summary: Curious insight into the family of the prophet
Review: I was dying of curiosity; I wanted to know what happened to Emma Smith. This book tells you in detail--it even gives you the details of her children and her role in the mormon community during and after the prophets life. I am not a mormon; however, I have mormon history and I find Emma Smith fascinating. She believed her husband and followed him through so much. She never questioned his teachings except for the polygamy issue; how betrayed she must have felt when those women so very close to her were "chosen" to be Joseph's wives and "hid it all behind her back." I fail to see what is so holy about that, life threatening or not. I see those women as enamoured by Joseph Smith and his position of power, status and celebrity in the Church---"groupies" basically. It seems Emma has proved she was not impressed so much by his authority, but of her human husband. Capable of much folly and error, yet wholly human. The authors paint Mr. Smith as just such a man. I feel they have Emma's personality down right. She had an unlucky time with her husbands. For a woman of such wit and intelligence, as this book proves, it is too bad. The authors show us also how Emma was seen by the Church and its members after Josephs death. I feel the book was not biased, for it seems an effort was made to keep it objective. I appreciate that it was not an attempt to convert me or prove "mormonism" to me at all, either. It was simply a good, researched, interesting book. Truly, Emma Smith was an "enigma."

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening scholarship
Review: Perhaps the most accurate biography of Emma Smith. The authors, one a member of the LDS (Mormons,) and the other a member of RLDS (Reorganized LDS), represent the events of Emma's life with a respectable balance of sensitivity and scholarly detachment.

Without resorting to theological conclusions or endorsements, Mormon Enigma presents the difficutlies associated with Emma's marriage to the charismatic religous leader, Joseph, and gives insights into the turmoil that accompanied her throughout her life. Her opposition to polygamy, ridicule by Joseph and his companions, and her influence on the evolving culture of the church are all well discussed.

A reader's perspectives and beliefs can be challenged, but the integrity of the authors cannot. A highly recommended read for those interested in the history of the early Mormon church.

Rating:
Summary: First Rate All the Way!
Review: This biography is first rate. Along with Thomas Alexander's biography of Wilford Woodruff, this is where prospective Mormon biographers should look for an example. It is balanced and even handed. When I finished the book, I felt like I knew WHO Emma Smith was and what she had gone through. All too often, Mormon biographies provide us with a lot of facts and experiences about a persons life, but leave us wondering who someone really was, not just what they did.

The biographers masterfully handle the extremely complex world of polygamy. They don't choose the easy way out of victimizing Emma and demonizing Joseph, or the other way around. They show the difficulties faced by both without passing judgment on either one.
Anyone who reads this marvelous book will have a greater appreciation of Emma Smith and a much greater understanding of early Mormonism.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Woman
Review: This biography is well researched and shows what a great and strong woman Emma Smith was. It was especially interesting to see how she dealt with the polygamy issue with Joseph Smith and also to see how well she raised her children after his death. The only reason that I marked this book down a little was because the first third of the book was a little difficult to get through. In this part of the book it seemed to me that I was reading a biography of Joseph Smith, rather than Emma. As a footnote, it was also interesting to note some of the trials the authors have faced from church leaders due to their writing this book. They seemed to have gotten into a little trouble for sharing some of the less flattering aspects of Joseph Smith's and Brigham Young's actions. If anything, the authors treaded lightly in these areas and could have been much more blunt in sharing their character defects in regards to their treatment of Emma. But kudos to the authors for being willing to write what they did.

Rating:
Summary: The Strongest of Spirits
Review: This book was simply amazing. Emma had more faith in her husband and his new found religion than most of the chosen 12 had. As a new member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I was amazed by the strength of Emma's faith, heart and soul despite all the aligations against her husband. Emma remained true to Joseph to the end whether she acknowledged the rumors as truth or fiction. I was shocked at what was written about Joseph but was moved by the unending support of Emma. Great read whether you are LDS, RLDS or of any other faith!

Rating:
Summary: A Highly Recommended Biography of Mormonism's First Lady
Review: This is one of the finest examples of what can be accomplished when diligent and skillful historians of Mormonism move beyond their religious biases and seek to understand a subject rather than engage in religious polemics. Written by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, this biography of Emma Smith, the wife of Joseph Smith Jr., the Mormon founder, presents a sweeping and dramatic portrait of this remarkable woman.

Generally accepted as a pathbreaking book, "Mormon Enigma" rehabilitated the image of Emma Smith as the obstinate and faith-shirking figure that had long held sway among the Mormons and at the same time debunked the image she enjoyed in Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, now the Community of Christ, which she joined in 1860. In that tradition she was "holier than thou," a good samaritan who faithfully discharged her responsibilities to ensure that her son, Joseph Smith III, became president of that dissident group. In both instances the result was positive. The book placed Emma Smith into an interpretive framework which taught Mormondom much about its trials and sacrifices, triumphs and tragedies. The work made possible, along with other historical workds, a major reinterpretation of the formative period of Mormonism.

This book is must reading for anyone who even pretends to be well-versed in the history of Mormonism. Buy it, read it, pass it on to your friends.

Rating:
Summary: Indeed an enigma
Review: To retell a past event is always difficult. The biographer has to take into account different sources, sayings and historical details to be able to give a thorough description of a person's life. The authors of this biography have taken an important initiative to tell the story of the women who saw and experienced the Restoration movement started by Joseph Smith. Being used to read about Joseph, him being fraud or prophet, the book takes you to another dimension, you start with reading about Emma and her family. She becomes the centre of the action. It is sad that it happens only in a biographer about her. She is either know as being the stubborn wife against polygamy or the anti-Brighamite, but here we get to know the situation she was in. The authors show how she was pictured by the Utah branch of Restoration movement, how she had to work with her past, as the prophet's wife but also how she tried to be a Mormon Florence Nightingale, always there helping the needy and the orphans.

The book was initially 1000 pages, but was reduced to 300. But the book is detailed and answers your question: did she stood by her belief in the Book of Mormon, did she deny the polygamous relation of her husband, did she love her second husband etc. The reader gets to know Emma through different sources and the authors discuss freely contradicting one and try to put different comments or inicidents into perspective. It is easy to judge a person's life through the lenses of modernity and the authors have tried and have succeded to present Emma as she was in 19th century. The reader get to know a remarkable strong personality, a soprano who falls in love in the come-to-be prophet of the Restoration movement. The authors have created a balance in the book between Emma and the rest of her acquaintance, especially Joseph. He is there without taking over. The reader gets also a human picture of her husband, which could disturb the common picture, but it is necessay, he was afterall human and Emma did have an eye for this human side, yes, she suffered but she never lost hope and in the end when she dies, it was his name that she called.