The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff

This is a book that I saw on enough lists and enough displays that I decided it must be in my genre. It is an ambitious novel, telling two stories: the first story is that of Brigham Young's 19th wife, Ann Eliza, who leaves Young and seeks to convince the government to outlaw polygamy; the second story is set in modern times, where a boy who has run away from a fundamentalist latter-day saint group (long ago splintered off from Mormonism) discovers that his mother has been accused of murdering his father and needs to decide how he can help her.

The contrast between the beginnings of Mormonism and fundamentalist latter-day group is well-done, however I couldn't stop envisioning scenes from HBO's Big Love - my fault not Eberhoff's, since he draws on narrative, letters, Wikipedia entries, and other literary devices to tell a colorful and detailed story. I found myself rooting for both Ann Eliza and her modern-day counterpart accused of murder, although the modern story kept my attention slightly more than the older one.

I definitely enjoyed this book - it was an ambitious undertaking, each half on its own a complete story. I wouldn't go so far as to say I enjoyed it as much as Middlesex or A Fine Balance, but it had that same 'saga' quality to it and was definitely a good read.