CFBA Tour and Book Review: The Sister Wife by Diane Noble

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing



The Sister Wife



Avon Inspire (June 22, 2010)



by



Diane Noble
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Diane Noble is a former double finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for Best Inspirational Fiction, a finalist for the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Reviewers' Choice Award, and a three-time recipient of the Silver Angel Award for Media Excellence.

With more than a quarter million books in print, Diane feels incredibly blessed to be doing what she loves best—writing the stories of her heart.

For the last three years Diane has been honored to be lead author for the popular Guideposts series, Mystery and the Minister’s Wife (Through the Fire, Angels Undercover), and has recently returned to writing historical fiction. She is currently writing book two of her new historical series, The Brides of Gabriel. Book one is The Sister Wife.

Diane’s hometown is Big Creek, California, a tiny village nestled in the rugged Sierra Nevada back country. As a child, Diane’s older brother Dennis fueled her creative streak by entertaining her with his own gift of storytelling. Growing up without TV and iffy radio reception, Diane became an avid reader, inhaling more than one hundred novels—both YA and adult—in a single
year by the time she reached seventh grade. Her passion for reading continues to this day.

Now empty nesters, Diane and her husband live in the Southern California low desert, near a place known for the lush and beautiful gated communities of the rich and famous.

ABOUT THE BOOK

What if the man you loved told you God wanted him to take another wife? What if that woman was your best friend?

Set in the heart of the earliest days of a new nineteenth-century sect known as the Saints, The Sister Wife is a riveting account of two women forced into a practice they don't understand, bound by their devotion to Prophet Joseph Smith.

When Mary Rose marries Gabriel, neither of them could foresee how quickly the community would turn to the practice of plural marriage. Devastated when Gabe is faced with an order from the Prophet to marry her best friend, Bronwyn, Mary Rose tries to have the faith to carry through with the marriage.

But can she really be married to the same man as her very best friend? Can Mary Rose and Bronwyn face betraying both their husband and their God to do what they feel is right?

If you would like to read the Prologue and first chapter of The Sister Wife, go HERE.

Watch the book video!




My thoughts:

This was one of those books that left me speechless when I turned the last page. Last year when I read Diane's other "Mormon" book, The Veil, about the Mountain Meadows massacre, I was equally left with a speechless, almost shocked feeling about the early Mormon religion and its foundations in history. I couldn't help but feel sorry for these people who, somewhat blindly, followed this new faith and its initial teachings regarding plural wives.
Diane did an incredible job portraying the emotions in this book between Mary Rose and Bronwyn. Mary Rose loved Gabe almost from the moment she saw him, and the thought of possibly having to share him with another wife makes her blood boil. Bronwyn feels the same way regarding her marriage with Griff. So, the more people talk in their little community about the leaders taking plural wives, the more Mary Rose and Bronwyn oppose it directly to their husbands. Before the book's end, everyone has to make a choice, and the results were, at times, heartbreaking.
Without a doubt, reading this book made me more thankful that I was not born or immersed in this culture when I was growing up. There's a reason why these women feel jealousy and, at times, bitterness toward their sister-wives when their all trying to capture the attention of the same husband. I thank God that He designed the covenant of marriage for one man and one woman, not more than one woman.
If you've never read a book that dealt with this particular culture, I encourage you to do so, even if it's just to broaden your own horizons. This book, or even the other Mormon book written by Diane, gives a good taste of what goes on outside our own little worlds. It's even sadder when you stop to think that polygamy is still being practiced today, and the those involved in it have to hide from everyone else so they're not caught. That's all I need to hear to know that these people are still, sadly, following a practice that they think was designed by God.
Aside from my personal opinions of polygamy, this is definitely a 5 star read and one of the best books that Diane has ever written. I hope the wait is not too long for the next book in the Brides of Gabriel series!