Saints by Orson Scott Card

This book may have influenced my life more than almost any other book -I hadn't read much before this.

I picked up a copy of this book at the Grant a Wish Foundation in Baltimore. They had a small library for the parents who are staying there -while their kids are at Johns Hopkins. When I saw the book and what it was about, I asked the front desk if I could take it -no one really used the library anyway. They gave it to me and two years later I read it.

At the time, it was the longest book I'd read -1200 pages. In addition to it's length, Orson tackles the often overlooked topic of Joseph Smith's multiple wives. Mormons who know about it, wont deny it, but a lot of Mormons just don't know Joseph practiced polygamy. This didn't cause me to question my faith, but it did get me to question my ideas of friendship, religion, and dating.

This book focuses on two women who join the faith and who eventually both marry Joseph Smith. Their relationships inspired me to focus more on the lasting content of a friendships and relationships -a childish lesson for an embarrassingly older child.

Once I confirmed that Joseph Smith did have multiple wives (which his first wife Emma didn't know about), I started to question why this information was withheld from me. I went through years of Sunday School and seminary (a Mormon financed bible study held daily during school hours). I guess this didn't necessarily rock my faith, but it did start the questioning.