Destiny (1895-1898) No. 1 in the Spirit of Union series By Gordon Ryan Deseret Book (Salt Lake City). Hardcover: 354 pages. ISBN: 1-57345-215-7 Suggested retail price: $16.95 (US) Audience: General audience
Reviewed by: Jeff Needle

Before writing this review, I checked the AML archive and found that this book had already been covered. After reading the review, however, I saw that my opinion of this book was markedly different from that which had been previously posted, and therefore submit this as an alternative viewpoint.

The Story

Tom Callahan, a young Irish boy seeking escape from his tyrannical father, boards a ship headed for America. On this ship, he meets, and falls in love with, Katrina Hansen. The Hansens are recent converts to the Church and are now headed for America to join the Saints in Utah. This all happens shortly before Utah's admission to the Union.

Katrina's father disapproves of young Tom, and arranges a marriage between Katrina and a young LDS returned missionary, the very young man, in fact, who baptized the Hansen family during his mission to Norway.

The story follows the disparate life paths of both Tom and Katrina, including a harrowing sequence involving polygamy, deceit and violent death. To say any more would be to ruin the book for any who want to read it.

Assessment

Much can be made about this book's failure to present a more complete view of Mormon history. The period is full of interesting people (some of whom do appear in the storyline) and intriguing events.

But I felt the purpose of the book was not to teach history, but to tell a good story, and I thought the book succeeded very well on that level. I found myself wanting to read on into the night, just to see what would happen next. The story took several unexpected turns, and kept me interested to the end.

Perhaps most satisfying was the generosity of the spirit of the book. The characters were interestingly presented, with little regard for religious affiliation. The prominent Mormon turned out to be a rat; the local parish priest, and the nun who ran the local hospital, were sterling examples of Christianity in action.

I was also happy to find characters relatively well developed. One of the great tests of a novel is whether one cares about the characters. I began to care very much -- at one point wishing I could crawl between the lines and knock one the characters soundly on the head.

Yes, one can quibble about the little bit of historical revisionism involving Pres. Cannon and the whole issue of the Manifesto. But such things are the concern of history, not necessarily of fiction.

When I pick up a novel, I want a good story, one that keeps my attention. Spirit of Union did just that.

[Jeff Needle]
... nfx v3.1 jeff.needle@general.com