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A Season of Joy
Deseret Book, 1994.
Hardcover: 575 pages. | 
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Reviewed by:
Anna Leon | |
[MOD: Anna Leon (actually Dr. Nathan Leon Pace and his wife Jenny) signed up for this review. Nathan writes, "When time was too short for both Jenny and I, I engaged the assistance of my brother-in-law William "Dee" Taylor, Salt Lake City . . . He should receive all credit for this review." Thanks to Dee, and thanks to the Paces for finding a way to get this to us in good time!]
Volume 5 of The Work and the Glory, subtitled A Season of Joy, delivers "hungry-for-more" readers of Gerald Lund's first four with yet another delicious feast. Volume 5 readers are now rushing out to get the just published sixth volume in the series. A Season of Joy is an absorbing, if not riveting and gripping, account of the Saints' exodus from the brutal persecutions of Missouri to the establishment of Nauvoo in the mosquito infested Mississippi and Illinois swampland. In mixing well-developed fictional characters with many early Church figures, the book recounts significant events of the Church in 1839-41. The adversity experienced by the Church leaders as they languished in the Liberty Jail, the missionary sacrifices and successes of the apostles as they first labored in Great Britain, as well as the drama of the fictional Steed family in coping with the difficult challenges of the new Church are among the exciting and spiritually uplifting episodes. For those curious to put themselves in the shoes of members of the early Church, I cannot think of a better way than through reading Lund's The Work and the Glory.
The first volume of this series (I have read them all) came as a surprise to me as I expected it to be maudlin Mormon mush that would offer little more than superficial entertainment. Quite the opposite, this series, including Volume 5 gives readers an authentic look at the period with Lund very careful to dot the story with the styles, the implements, the culture and the practices of the 1830s and 40s.
Volume 5 is self-contained, Lund careful to skillfully let the reader know what has led up to the events in the story. As with earlier volumes, "Chapter Notes" at the end of each chapter document the "true historical context of the events taking place.
A strength of the book is that the problems of the characters are often the same problems and questions we struggle with today. Repentance, forgiveness, coping with adversity, the power of service, and the pain of part member families, are all themes that are dealt with in ways that are edifying to the reader. A Season of Joy is a readable and hard to put down book. Those who have read the first four volumes will relish the ongoing story. For those who have felt the sadness of coming to the end of an historical novel that has become a friend, Lund's well-researched series sustains a friendship through book after book.
-- *************************************** Nathan Leon Pace, M.D. Professor of Anesthesiology Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering Former Tenor1, UTAH SYMPHONY CHORUS University of Utah 50 North Medical Drive Salt Lake City, Utah 84132 Work Phone: 801-581-6393 Work FAX: 801-581-43672211 South Scenic Drive Salt Lake City, Utah 84109-1430 Home Phone: 801-467-2925 Home FAX: 801-467-0555
nlpace@bigpace.med.utah.edu (UNIX) nlpace@bigpace.med.utah.edu (MAC) ***************************************
| Reviewed: 1 December 1995 | Copyright © 1995 Anna Leon |