No Bed in Deseret — Nickolae Gerstner

No Bed in Deseret Originally published in 1981, and timely now because of Governor Mitt Romney, No Bed in Deseret, by Nickolae Gerstner, uses a journal written by Olive Banks in the 1850s, to tell the riveting story of a girl caught in a religion that honored polygamy as a basic tenet. Olive is eighteen when she falls desperately in love with Dr. Percival Terry. Horrified and repulsed when she learns his religion calls polygamy "celestial marriage ordained by God," she refuses to marry him until after he promises she will be the only wife he will ever choose. A new bride and deliriously happy, Olive sets out with him for Deseret, the promised land of the Mormons. Her happiness shatters when church elders direct Percival to marry pretty Sophia who is only sixteen and recently orphaned. Claiming he is not breaking his word because Sophia was chosen for him, Percival marries the girl, twisting Olive's life into unrelenting agony. Through a thin wall, Olive hears everything her husband says to his second wife. She is aware of everything they do. To escape madness, Olive must escape Deseret, knowing that, if caught, the fate of a run-away wife is death. Using heart moving journal entries, "No Bed in Deseret" reveals the tumultuous history of Deseret, now part of Utah. The story is well told and Gerstner manages to separate fact from fiction while retaining both a vivid feel for the historical background and a realistic look at the Mormon religion--properly called the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints--in the nineteenth century.