Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith – Linda King Newell &
Valeen Tippetts Avery
Title: Mormon
Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Author: Linda
King Newell & Valeen Tippetts Avery
Publisher: University
of Illinois Press (1984 - Doubleday)
Year: Original
Publication 1984 – Current Edition 1996 (In Print)
Rating: 4 STARS
Price and
Purchasing Options: The best way to get this book is probably throughAmazon. The book retails for $23.95. There are some options on eBay (here) and used books stores, and it may be a neat find at a Deseret Industries. However, you shouldn’t expect to see this
often, because when it was published it didn’t have as wide acceptance into the
libraries of LDS members, and therefore won’t be something at Deseret
Industries or other LDS focused thrift stores.
Review: When this book was written in 1984, it
came at a time that seems a little uncommon by today’s standards. It came at a time, where the church as a
community was still uncomfortable with secular conversations as it related to
its history. It came at a time, where
anything that was discussed with the tone of “non-spiritual” also was seen in
the tone of possibly unsupportive of the church and the spiritual progress of
its members.
During this time in the general membership of the church
the open discussions regarding Joseph Smith’s practice of polygamy, Emma’s lack
of joining the Brigham movement to Utah, the founding of the RLDS, and Emma as
a whole were not commonly discussed.
Generally speaking, the church was ill prepared to address these issues,
probably not knowing exactly what type of narrative they could embrace.
This was a hold over from earlier traditions, especially
in regards to Emma Smith, and some remnants of this we still see today. However, today Emma is embraced more heavily
in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints more than ever before, there
are still remnants that haven’t been totally removed of questions and subtle
bias.
It was in this environment that Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith was released, and as a result was
received with mixed emotions. Even today,
reviews can still be seen challenging its place and accuracy within Mormon
History; most of these seem to be from that period of its original
publication. But with these reviews even
modern Mormons may look and questions whether the book will be biased against
the Prophet, Brigham and the current organization of the church. This is a shame, because it seems clear that
it is keeping many open minds away from this book, which was a head of its time
and fits perfectly in ours.
In reading this book today, the reader will look back on
that earlier biased with some confusion.
This text is fantastic, and extremely helpful in
understanding Emma Smith and the early church (more on that later). In today’s context, any challenge after
reading the book seems to be naïve. This
is because, the issues discussed in the book are no more sensational than more
resent books published that have been fully accepted by the general reading
membership of the Church (e.g. Rough
Stone Rolling, etc.). The church has
come a long way, and as much as this book was a head of it’s time when it was
published, it has a fully acceptable place within the current time frame.
In the text Newell and Avery do a phenomenal work of
making sure that the book stays about Emma.
Although, Joseph plays a prominent role within the book, they have
successfully maintained that balance, where his larger than life character and
mission do not overshadow the intent of the book. In addition to this they cover many very
sensitive topics, and help to outline the complications within each of
them. They help remind the reader that
life is never black and white, and if we are looking for a “clean” narrative
that can describe Emma – we are not going to find it. Life is complicated, and people make
decisions the best they can with the options presented.
As much as I love this book, let me just highlight a few
things I have already alluded to. This
book helps to weave the complicated narrative of someone’s life together. In doing so this ISN’T a “feel good about
everyone” story – it is a story to help us understand Emma Hale Smith. The reader will not walk away from this book
with a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith, or find a perfectly acceptable
narrative in regards to Emma’s relationship with the Utah movement of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
What they will find is a greater understanding of Emma as person.
If you are looking for a book to build your testimony,
there are other texts available.
However, if you are looking to better understand Emma Hale Smith, and
develop a stronger love for someone that you know plays a critical role in the
restoration of the gospel, than this is a great book.
I started this book wanting to better understand Emma,
and by the end I not only better understood her, but I better understood her
actions. I didn’t have to agree with all
of them, but I understood and empathized with her trials.
Emma Hale Smith lived a hard life. Her marriage to Joseph put her and her family
at odds. Her family with Joseph was
filled with miscarriages and the loss of children, with trials and regular
concerns about the temporal welfare of her family and her husbands life. He marriage was filled with pressures and
stress of being a public family, as well a personal pain and struggles with
regards to Joseph and polygamy.
After the death of Joseph an understandable challenge was
seen between Emma and Brigham (where there were already personality
challenges). As Emma was the widow of
her husband, what properties did she have rights to organize in relations to
providing for herself and her family?
While at the same time, her husband was the President of a church that
Brigham was trying desperately to maintain; and what was his right as the new leader
of the organization to manage in regards to property? What was the property of the church and what
was the property of the Smith family? A
conflict that most passive members of the church never fully consider today. This caused a huge conflict.
So when the time came to follow Young or not, the need to
stay back and take care of her ailing mother-in-law made for an easy tipping
point to not follow, especially when she was aware of Young’s continued
interest in polygamy and other personally issues; and Young need to minimize
any looping Smith claims to his authority.
One of the more unique things I didn’t expect from this
text, was that I left reading it with a deeper understanding of the formation
of the RLDS (Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or
currently called the Community of Christ).
This was a neat element of church history that I found fascinating and I
appreciated very much.
In an effort not to dwell too much on this book, I would
conclude with my recommendation for it.
I give this book 4 Stars, and I would highly recommend it to anyone
interested in learning more about Emma Hale Smith. Be mindful that the content is clear and
straight forward. There is no fluff to
soften the blow of critical concepts, and so it is not a testimony builder, but
a relationship builder with Emma, and in help putting her in context. Not for every member of the Church, but
definitely should be seen on more bookshelves and LDS libraries.
Suggestions: This is a sit down to read type of book, and
probably more for the reader. The good
news is that the book is well enough written, that you can get really involved
quickly. So it can read a little more
like a normal sensational book. I would
recommend getting it, and committing to dedicate some time to it – and you will
find that the time you put to it will go by faster than you expected.
I hope you have enjoyed this review, and I encourage your
to follow this blog as I update more reviews in the coming days, weeks, months,
etc. Please feel free to also follow my
YouTube page – however, I enjoy writing more than being on camera!
Review #2
Tags: Joseph
Smith (Topic), Biography, Historical Biography, Linda King Newell, Valeen Tippetts Avery, Mormon
Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, 4 Stars
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