This was just like the first book, for me. As it started, possibly because it's been so long since I finished the first book, I was underwhelmed. Who were these people? And what made their story more worth telling than the other hundreds of average people who had stories to tell? And then, as it progressed, I found out that I should care-- very much.

No story is ordinary, but I think that the compilers did a good job of choosing people who were, in a way, outsiders. There's stories of separation, divorce, abandonment, disagreements(Heber J!), doubts (BH Roberts), and struggles. Most remarkable, I felt, were the twin historical humps of polygamy and the MMM(Mountain Meadows Massacre).

With polygamy, there were stories that ran the gamut from difficult spouses, to mushy lovers. And the MMM was a horrific set of domino-esqe choices that led to tragedy. * But they spare no feelings and attach plenty of blame. But, when placed in context, many of the "juicier" topics were understandable. They didn't always make sense (I still wanted to shake Mr. Haight and say "what were you thinking?") but you saw how each action may have affected the other.

I'm still not quite sure WHY Lorenzo Snow was ignored as much as he was. And some people I never did come to like(Please someone teach me to like Eliza R. Snow!). And I feel like they left out a couple of stories(Emmaline Wells had a good one, I heard), but they didn't really have a place in the narrative.

End note-- if you think, like others thought, that women were steamrolled over because of their religion, think again and read chapter 25.

*I must say, though, I did feel like they didn't really end the story. I'm pretty sure most people will want to know what happened to John D. Lee and Isaac Haight in terms of punishment. ( )

I know very little about what happened to the Saints after Brigham Young's "this is the place" moment, so I learned a lot from this book. It chronicles my heritage during this time period, basically, and brought these people to life for me for the first time.

Still as disturbed as ever by plural marriage, though. It seemed to only cause trial and heartache, for no satisfying reason. That's a part of church history I don't think I'll ever understand. Lots of troubling things happened during these 50 years, but I appreciated that the writers didn't shy away from the uncomfortable bits or try to push an agenda. It's history told from an LDS perspective, but still remarkably neutral. ( )