Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith
Encyclopedia
Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe is a biography
of Emma Hale Smith
, wife of Joseph Smith Jr., written by Linda King Newell
and Valeen Tippetts Avery
.
Generally accepted as a groundbreaking biography, the book places Emma Smith into a context that has better explained the trials and sacrifices of the members of the early Latter Day Saint church. The work made possible, along with other more recent historical works, a major reinterpretation of the formative period of Mormonism
.
The book won the 1984 Best Book Award for interpretive history by the Mormon History Association
.
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Emma Hale Smith
Emma Hale Smith
Emma Hale Smith Bidamon was married to Joseph Smith, Jr., until his death in 1844, and was an early leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, during Joseph Smith's lifetime and afterward as a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints...
, wife of Joseph Smith Jr., written by Linda King Newell
Linda King Newell
Linda King Newell is an American historian and author.Newell co-authored the 1984 book Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith with Valeen Tippetts Avery. During this time she was also editor of the scholarly Mormon periodical Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought with her husband L...
and Valeen Tippetts Avery
Valeen Tippetts Avery
Valeen Tippetts Avery was an American biographer and historian best known for her work on Western American and Latter Day Saint history...
.
Generally accepted as a groundbreaking biography, the book places Emma Smith into a context that has better explained the trials and sacrifices of the members of the early Latter Day Saint church. The work made possible, along with other more recent historical works, a major reinterpretation of the formative period of Mormonism
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
.
The book won the 1984 Best Book Award for interpretive history by the Mormon History Association
Mormon History Association
The Mormon History Association is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history to promote understanding, scholarly research, and publication in the field...
.
Publication information
- Newell, Linda King and Avery, Valeen T. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, Elect Lady, Polygamy's Foe. Doubleday Publishing, September 1984. ISBN 0-385-17166-8. 2nd edition. rev., Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1994.
External links
- 1985 review in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon ThoughtDialogue: A Journal of Mormon ThoughtDialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly journal of "Mormon thought" that addresses a wide range of issues on Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint Movement....
- 1985 review in SunstoneSunstone MagazineSunstone is a magazine published by the Sunstone Education Foundation, Inc., a 501 nonprofit corporation, that discusses Mormonism through scholarship, art, short fiction, and poetry. The foundation began the publication in 1974 and considers it a vehicle for free and frank exchange in The Church...
(pp. 58–9)