I really enjoyed the conversation and the topic. When I was growing up and especially when taking Church History in seminary Emma Smith was treated like Public Enemy #1 in the church. I will never forget the diatribes my seminary teacher would go on about her. In reading everything I could get my hands on at the time the disrespect and antipathy that Emma seemed to bring out, especially in men, made no sense at all. At BYU I was fortunate to have a Church History professor who ditched the approved textbook and taught from the letters, diaries and journals, newspapers, minutes of meetings and other sources that were written by the early church members. By seeing Emma Smith through the eyes of those who knew her she was no longer a villainess to me. Emma became my heroine. No other woman went through what she did, both good and bad, and still stayed faithful to the gospel. I have to admit that I lost some respect for Joseph for lying about plural marriage to Emma especially with regard to the underage and already married wives as well as for sneaking around to spend the night with various wives. Surely this could not have been approved by God! The fact that many of the relationships were sexual in nature must’ve devastated Emma after all she’d done and been through to support her husband as the prophet of the church. I am so pleased that the church’s attitude toward Emma has made a 180 degree change and that we honor her as the Elect Lady that she truly was.

Comment by A Poor Wayfaring Stranger — April 13, 2021 @ 11:39 pm

Excellent interview! This made me really excited for the book!

I’m not sure if Jennifer will see this, but I am super interested to know how Deseret Book treated some of the more sensitive areas. If there were things that they made you leave out of the discussion. I’ll be honest I was hesitant regarding this book because it was published by Deseret Book but after this interview I am super excited!

Comment by n8c — April 22, 2021 @ 12:51 am