Search - Saints

From Publishers Weekly
First published in 1984 and marketed as a romance under the title A Woman of Destiny, Card's magnum opus deserves a wider readership than it has hitherto enjoyed. Best known for his fantasy fiction (Ender's Game, etc.), Card does an excellent job of depicting the Dickensian horrors of England undergoing industrialization in the early 19th century as well as the early trials of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints as experienced by his heroine, Dinah Kirkham. After converting to the new "Mormon" faith, Dinah emigrates from Britain to America, where she becomes one of the plural wives of the church's founder and prophet, Joseph Smith. The controversial Smith comes across as convincingly human as do the rest of Card's not always admirable characters. Not just for the LDS faithful (the author is himself a Mormon), this ambitious novel will appeal to anyone interested in a sensitive examination of the roots of religious feeling.

MY NOTES:
"Saints" is a novelization of the life of one of the wives of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). The book follows Dinah from her childhood of poverty and misery in England through her involvement in the early Mormon movement in the United States. Card manages to make it seem plausible that a smart, tough, self-reliant woman like Dinah could accept Mormon "plural marriage." The one part of her life that I didn't fully understand was Dinah's conversion to Mormonism in the first place, which is, of course, crucial to the story.

I was fascinated by Card's characterization of Joseph Smith. You can't quite decide whether he's a raving egomaniac on a power trip or whether he truly believes he's heard the voice of God and is determined to be faithful no matter how difficult it may be or how crazy God's commands may seem. Or maybe it's some of each. It seems to me that a lot of strong religious leaders are like this, and maybe there's no sure way to tell what's really motivating them. Card also leaves open the interpretation of Dinah's treatment of her children: Is it a painful but necessary consequence of acting faithfully, or an inexcusable abdication of responsibility, or some of each?

"Saints" is an engaging story and a powerful study of the faithful life. Also recommended: "Stone Tables," Card's novelization of the life of Moses.

This is a lengthy book at 604 pages, but I finished it in about 4 evenings. It progresses quickly and held my interest easily.

At the beginning, we learn of the Kirkham family in Manchester, England, deserted by the father in 1829 and left to fend for themselves. I was fascinated by the way the author described life in this time period and a lot of the historical accuracy weaved throughout this fictional tale. Dinah Kirkham, the youngest child of the family, is the main character in the book yet the stories are really all about her family, and the various paths they all take, the struggles they must each face, and their inner strength.

The first few sections of the book take us along as the Kirkhams struggle to survive, the children working in factories at ages so young it was hard to imagine, the mother accepting her now lowered station in life and looking for work in the homes of others, all while living in a miserable shack of a home. The latter half of the book occurs after the Kirkhams have been introduced to a Mormon missionary who has a message that resonates with most of the family. From there, the story takes a turn both narratively and geographically.

While Dinah is a fictional character, the author has her interacting with real people and real events who have also been fictionalized in these stories, but it gives the book more of a non-fiction feel. Card also uses "First Words" in between chapters where he appears to be giving background on his "great aunt Dinah" and her diary, so it was easy to forget that this was a fictional character.