This image is the cover for the book Wife No. 19

Wife No. 19

The compelling memoir of the nineteenth wife of Brigham Young, second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

In 1869, Ann Eliza Young married Brigham Young, becoming what she believed to be his nineteenth wife. She went on to file for divorce in 1873, alleging neglect, cruel treatment, and desertion. She was excommunicated from the church in 1874, and the divorce was granted the following year. She would go on to lead a fight against polygamy, Mormonism, and Brigham Young, testifying before US Congress.

In Wife No. 19, Young shares her account of her life in the LDS Church. It served as an exposé, detailing the treatment of herself and other female church members. Originally published in 1876, this autobiography went on to be the basis of Irving Wallace’s 1961 biography The Twenty-Seventh Wife, as well as David Ebershoff’s 2008 novel, The 19th Wife.

Ann Eliza Young

Ann Eliza Young was one of Brigham Young’s fifty-five wives and, later, a critic of polygamy. Her autobiography, Wife No. 19 is a recollection of her experiences in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She grew up a member of the LDS Church in a polygamous household which moved to Utah during the Mormon migration. Ann Eliza was married and divorced three times: first to James Dee, then Young, and finally Moses Denning. Her divorce from Young led to her excommunication from the church in 1874.

Open Road Media