Review of THE CELESTIAL WIFE by Leslie Howard

 2.5 Stars

I came across this book in a magazine article written by a former student in which she regularly highlights the most anticipated fiction of the month. This title appeared in her April 2024 list. Unlike my former student, I would not recommend it so highly.

The novel begins in 1964 in Redemption, B.C., the home of a polygamist cult partially modeled after the Mormon fundamentalist group in Bountiful, B.C. When Daisy Shoemaker turns 15, the leader of the community decides she will be the wife of a man 40 years her senior who already has 35 wives and 156 children. Unwilling to accept this fate, she flees to the outside world which she has been taught to fear. With the help of others, she builds a new life for herself. Five years later, she decides she has to help her friend Brighten escape; in order to do so, she risks her newfound independence and even her life.

The book clearly outlines the conditions under which women and children live in Redemption. Children receive minimal education. Residents are restricted from receiving proper medical care. Women have no control of their destinies; the bishop makes all decisions for their lives. Absolute obedience is expected or harsh punishments are meted out. Underage girls are married, often to much older men who already have multiple wives. Under the guise of religious freedom, sexual abuse is rampant.

My problem with the book is that many parts are unbelievable, too convenient and unrealistic. In other words, the plot feels contrived. Jean, a 19-year-old man who befriends Daisy, has already dropped out of law school? He conveniently receives three tickets so Daisy and her best friend Saffron can accompany him to a Beatles concert in Vancouver?! At this concert, attended by 20,000 people, people from Redemption come to look for Daisy and they manage to find her?! Saffron decides she will get a job to manage ferry traffic using the radio so of course she gets the job but is given no training? Fortunately, Daisy can teach her friend because she did something similar in Redemption! And these are just some of many examples.

There are other issues. Characters appear and disappear. Daisy’s father is a perfect example. Donald, a young man from Redemption, is another character who appears and then disappears, only to magically reappear when needed. Having Daisy attend both a Beatles concert and Woodstock certainly seems contrived. Then there’s the problem of characters behaving inconsistently. For instance, it is totally unbelievable that the Bishop agrees to allow his people to attend a love-in held by hippies. Then there are inconsistencies; the community can run a sawmill even though the Bishop doesn’t own it and has no proof of ownership? And the true owner doesn’t do anything for years to wrest control back, though he tells his daughter to hire lawyers to do so? Is it better to be a first wife or the third celestial wife? If a celestial wife is the “most highly favored wife,” then why are girls so hoping to become a first wife who only has status?

Daisy is supposed to be the spunky heroine, but I found her unconvincing. We are supposed to admire her determination and courage, but what stands out for me is her stupidity. Even after learning that certain people cannot be trusted, she still falls into their traps. There’s the bizarre episode of Daisy agreeing to a meeting at a sawmill which certainly falls into the same category of stupidity as checking on a strange noise in a reputedly haunted house. Because there’s a gap of years between Daisy’s escape and her life five years later, the reader doesn’t get to see her struggles with adapting to life outside Redemption. What does she do to try and find her father? She maintains more contact with Brighten than she does with her mother, though her mother has more access to the outside world?

The prose style is unsophisticated. There is a lack of emotional depth because there’s much more telling than showing. This book reads more like young adult fiction and it’s young readers who might be most interested in Daisy’s coming of age story. As an adult reader, I was underwhelmed.