I found Jake and the Pigs at Deseret Industries the other day. It's always a delight to find a title by an author you've never read.

Jake and the Pigs tells the story of young Jake Lucan, son of James and Thankful Lucas, a farming family living in the late 1870's. ("Thankful" was a Quaker before marrying James; she was excluded from the community when she married a non-believer.) Five sisters complete the family

One day, Pa (James) returns home with a litter of pigs to raise for either breeding or eating. The family greets the pigs with something less than enthusiasm -- after all, he plans to build their pen so near their home that the smell will be unbearable. But the children take a liking to one of the pigs, and when Pa threatens to slaughter the pig for food, they convince him to "get to know the pig better."

The Lucases have many visitors. Among them is a freeloading preacher who dispenses not just spiritual guidance but stern warnings about this new religion, the Mormons. His description is typical of the misrepresentations of the time, right down to them having horns on their heads! Horrible thought.

Some time later, Jake is injured, and is left semi-conscious some distance from his house. Two Mormon missionaries come across the boy, manage to learn where he lives, and summons his mother to come help get him home. This act of charity leads some in the family to believe that maybe the Mormons aren't all that bad. Leaving a Book of Mormon for them to read, the entire family is baptized, with the exception of Pa, who stubbornly resists the call.

The family (except Pa) move to Salt Lake City, discerning a call of the Spirit to make such a move. Before leaving, Jake hides a Book of Mormon with a personal inscription in a place he knows his father will discover. The plea from his son finally moves him to read the book, and he, too, is converted. He follows his family to Utah (a journey that costs him dearly, and nearly costs him his life).

Jake and the Pigs is filled with delightful vignettes of what life must have been like in the 1870's. I found myself wincing as I read of a visitor who shares Jake's bed with him, and nearly crushes him to death. Jake's injury is told vividly and realistically. The antics of the children are believable and often amusing.

The plot is formulaic, of course. There are few surprises. There is a type of Mormon novel that might be titled a "happily ever after" novel. Jake and the Pigs is such a book. In the end, everyone wins. Maybe this isn't so bad.

Children will enjoy this book, as will many adults. Despite the lack of any real surprises, the story is nicely told, and evokes a time and a place when simple folk heard a simple gospel, and simply followed the promptings of the Spirit.

... Jeff Needle/jeff.needle@general.com