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A Little Lower Than the Angels
| Author | Virginia Sorensen |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf |
| ISBN | 1-56085-103-1 |
A Little Lower Than the Angels is a historical fiction novel by Virginia Sorensen, published in 1942 by Alfred A. Knopf. This was Sorensen's first novel and the title "Lower than the angels" is a reference to Psalm 8:5.[1]
Synopsis
The novel is told from multiple perspectives, from the fictional character Mercy Baker to the character based on real-life Joseph Smith.
Mercy and Simon Baker arrive in Nauvoo, Illinois with their three children and another on the way. On the boggy banks of the Mississippi river, the Mormon community is rife with “swamp fever,” and their eldest son, Jarvie, soon falls ill with the same disease. Joseph Smith arrives and, along with Simon and other men, gives Jarvie a blessing, to no effect. Mercy goes out into the woods to collect herbs for her son, and it is alone in the woods that she suddenly gives birth. She brings the baby and her scavenged medicine home to find that Jarvie is already getting better. Mercy slowly recovers, while her friend Eliza Snow and Joseph Smith draw closer. Joseph announces the doctrine of polygamy to the brethren of the church, and then directly goes to propose to Eliza. Mercy witnesses the sealing ceremony of Eliza and Joseph, but is very uncomfortable with the idea of polygamy, and feels that her friend Eliza is being taken advantage of. Jarvie and the family's maid, Vic, get involved with each other, but Vic is banished when Simon catches the two of them together. Mercy continually gets pregnant and gives birth, with recovery taking longer and longer each time. She gives birth to twins, which leaves her weak, and when one of the twin girls dies, she is unable to manage the house. Brigham Young tells Simon Baker that he should take on a second wife, Charlotte, who arrives in the Baker home under the pretense of a maid.
Background
Despite writing stories about and for the Mormon culture and people, Sorensen's books were not well received in Utah. A Little Lower Than the Angels received a negative review by Latter-Day Saint Apostle John A.Widstoe. However, this book was very successful outside of her home state, and had positive reviews from Wallace Stegner in the Saturday Review of Literature, [2] Milton Rugoff in the New York Herald Tribune and Walter Prescott in the New York Times[3]
The title refers to Psalm 8:5
Criticism
"Mrs. Sorensen strikes many a realistic note in her story of an industrious people, banished into the West because of their unusual religious tenets...this first novel is replete with unusual drama. -MARY FABYAN WINDEATT[4]
"Sorensen depicts through several different female protagonists in the novel the determined but ultimately frustrated search for a specific sort of language through which women can express themselves and discuss problems and emotions, both emotional and spiritual, that affect women in a way in which they cannot similarly affect men."
Nevertheless, Sorensen's creativity in allowing readers to see the true sentiments and perceptions beneath the surface of male-dominated doctrines, a nd beyond the silences of courageous women, is an early foray into the now-prolific realm of feminist language and expression[5]
"Despite the publisher's wholehearted support, critical response to the novel split along Mormon and national lines"[2]
Her publisher, Alfred Knopf, wrote in the book jacket, "I have seldom introduced a new novelist with the confidence I feel in the author of this remarkable book. It marks the debut, I believe, of a major American writer."
"He hates woman-emotion, uncurbed and hysterical; he's like other men, he gets out of the room before it, he shuns it, embarrassed" (322)[6]
References"
- ^ Lee, L. L. (Lawrence L.) (1978). Virginia Sorensen. Lee, Sylvia B.,. Boise, Idaho: Boise State University. ISBN 0-88430-055-2. OCLC 4656476.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ a b Howe, Susan Elizabeth (2002). "Virginia Sorensen's A Little Lower Than the Angels and John A. Widtsoe; A Lesson in Literary History". Annual (Association for Mormon letters): 87–94.
- ^ Bradford, Mary Lythgoe. Foreward to A Little Lower than the Angels. Salt Lake City. Signature Books, 1997. v-xx
- ^ Windeatt, Mary Fabyan (1942). "Another Mormon Novel". America.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Hansen, Helynne H. (1994). "In Search of Women's Language and Feminist Expression among Nauvoo Wives in A Little Lower than the Angels" (PDF). Dialgoue. 27: 94–102.
- ^ Sorensen, Virginia, 1912-1991. (1997). A little lower than the angels. Salt Lake City: Signature Books. ISBN 1-56085-103-1. OCLC 37910192.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)