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son, Jim. Abijah's second wife, Willie, dies in childbirth after he refuses to send for a doctor. Clory takes organ lessons from one of
Brigham Young's wives, who also teaches her how to raise silk worms. Clory feels contentment with her position in life. The discovery of silver nearby brings miners to the town, which brings new challenges. Brigham Young dies and church leaders are arrested for practicing polygamy. Clory's hands are covered in sores from working with leather in her glovemaking work, and she keeps them bandaged. Abijah is called as the president of the Logan temple, takes a new, young wife and leaves his other wives behind. Erastus Snow dreams of using a spillway instead of dams to cope with St. George's flooding problems. Clory has a final miscarriage after she is frightened by a dog. On her deathbed, Clory realizes that she had a testimony of the truthfulness of her religion all along.
270:
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149:. Clory survives through both emotional and physical hardship as she experiences the deaths of her children and multiple miscarriages, near-starvation due to drought and floods, and emotional neglect from Abijah. One of the themes of the work is how polygamy and enduring harsh conditions are both tests of faith. Whipple embeds folk beliefs and narratives into her story, giving it greater depth.
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A paperback edition was issued in 1964. It is not known when this edition by
Doubleday went out of print. Whipple renewed the copyright in 1969 for twenty-eight years. Whipple asked two different publishers to reprint the book in 1974, but both declined. In 1976, Sam Weller, a prominent bookseller in
410:
in 1978, Bruce
Jorgenson, a creative writing teacher at Brigham Young University, praised the "complicated" characters and strong portrayal of historical figures, with the exception of Erastus Snow. He critiqued the undisciplined narrative style, which he described as often succumbing to "ballooning
284:
liked "Beaver Dam Wash" and convinced Ferris
Greenslet, then vice president at Houghton Mifflin, to read it. Greenslet advised Whipple to make the novella a little longer; instead, she proposed a Mormon epic and sent a sample chapter. Greenslet encouraged her to apply for Houghton Mifflin's $ 1,000
208:
during their founding years. The book focuses on Clory's life, starting with her as a 17-year-old third bride to the forty-year-old Abijah. Abijah unexpectedly consummates their marriage and Clory becomes disillusioned with wifely obedience. Abijah's teenage son, Freeborn, comforts Clory and Abijah
224:
Clory has two more children, Abijah leaves on a mission to
England, and all three of Clory's children die in the aftermath of a plague of grasshoppers. Abijah blames Clory, and she learns glovemaking to earn money. When Abijah returns from his mission, he gives her a house and she gives birth to a
480:
into a radio drama with 30-minute episodes. Gene Pack read the episodes five days a week during August and
September in 1965. The owner of the KUER radio station, Ellen Winkelmann, allowed Pack and Whipple to tape the segments, but later kept and sold the tapes to a third party, much to Whipple's
260:
in context in a way that elicited sympathy and understanding of folk beliefs. He praised
Whipple's portrayal of a Mormon experience, noting how she used folk narratives as plot elements, which paralleled the way faith-promoting events occurred and failed to occur. Clory herself vacillates between
1072:
Accessed 6 Feb 2016. The citation for the award read: "Maurine
Whipple, native of St. George, is the author of This Is the Place: Utah and a host of articles and short stories in Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Life, Time, and Pageant. She is especially esteemed for her prize-winning
396:
that I can scarcely contain myself." Whipple's father intercepted her advance copy and told her it was "vulgar" while other residents of St. George had mixed feelings about how their ancestors' stories were included or excluded. Not all Utah residents disliked the book; friends and acquaintances
373:
wrote that
Whipple's writing was not anti-Mormon, but "scrupulously fair and even sympathetic," adding that though the book was "maybe a little over-long," it was "rich, robust and oddly exciting." A review appearing in The Coschocton Tribute predicted that Mormons would not like the book, which
297:
to finish writing the book. Whipple disliked Yaddo, complaining that she felt lonely and isolated, and completed much writing there. Joseph Walker, an ex-Mormon doctor from St. George living in
Hollywood, read early manuscripts and wrote Whipple encouraging letters. She wrote the manuscript in
431:
as "not the great Mormon novel, but the greatest." The novel is well known among Mormon religious faculty. In a 2002 survey, a group of mostly Mormon religious educators were asked to list the three most important books about Mormonism by LDS authors in several categories, including fiction.
285:
literary fellowship for new writers working on their first novel. Whipple lived with her parents while she wrote the chapters for the fellowship application, often getting inspiration right before falling asleep and working through the night. Greenslet helped her to apply for the
156:, a prominent church leader, wrote that its treatment of polygamy was unfair, but that it showed the "epic value" of early settlements. After a resurgence in interest in Mormon literature in the 1970s and 1980s, the book became one of the best-known examples of a Mormon novel.
365:
stated that it was "competent but never quite excellent." John Selby's review, which appeared in multiple newspapers, described the characters as "real people, whose beliefs seal them up, as it were, in a kind of transparent separateness in which seem oddly luminous."
241:" of faith similar to colonizing Utah's desert. Polygamy is more than an unusual set of sexual partners; it is the setting of emotional and spiritual sacrifice. Whipple also shows how isolated Clory was when she notes Clory's excitement to see a non-Mormon, or "
305:
was not very profitable to Whipple. As a fellowship winner, the accompanying contract was not generous, and Whipple had received advances on her royalty checks to finish the novel. Whipple also hired a literary agent, Maxim Liber, just after the publication of
314:, though Brooks was disappointed at the historical inaccuracies Whipple kept in the novel. Whipple was also inspired by her own family history and family stories from the Beckstrom family and Annie Atkin, who grew up in St. George and later married
469:. The agreement included an allowance of $ 150 a month for a year. Whipple wrote five chapters, which are found in her papers, but was not able to complete the novel. The draft was published in 2020 along with her short stories in the collection
27:
221:. Freeborn is killed by Indians, and Clory becomes depressed and has a miscarriage. Abijah blesses Kissy after she falls out of a wagon in an accident, and Clory feels love for him.
26:
196:
focuses primarily on Abijah MacIntyre and his wives, Bathsheba, Willie, and Clorinda (Clory), who move to southern Utah in 1861, and become prominent members of the communities of
349:'s list of bestsellers. The novel had fans who sent Whipple letters expressing their love for her epic novel. The U.S. Navy bought 200 copies for ship libraries. Writing in the
209:
brings the two to Erastus Snow, who rebukes them all. Later, Clory is pregnant and determined to leave St. George, but stays after seeing the natural beauty of a large group of
415:
was the most-borrowed book in the Salt Lake City Public Library. In "Fifty Important Mormon Books", Curt Bench reported that Mormon scholars in 1990 unanimously chose
145:
The novel focuses on the life of Clorinda (Clory), who becomes the third wife of Abijah MacIntyre and lives in Southern Utah during its early years of colonization by
357:
praised the way Whipple used historical details about clothing and food in the book, which made her characters "bursting with vitality." Ray B. West in the
1143:
379:
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310:, and Liber took a percentage of money due to her. She fired him that August. Historian Juanita Brooks helped Whipple with historical details in
152:
Contemporary reviewers praised Whipple's realistic portrayal of Mormon pioneers in Utah and the way her realistic characters elicited sympathy.
293:
over the next three years. He constantly gave her advice, personally lent her money, and made it possible for her to stay at the artist colony
261:
faith and disbelief. Wilson felt that the book's last 200 pages failed, which he attributed to their lack of concrete references to folklore.
465:, at times also imagining a trilogy. In fall 1945, Whipple signed a contract with Simon and Schuster to publish the sequel, to be titled
388:
that its treatment of polygamy was unfair, though he praised how it showed the "epic value" of Mormon settlements. In a private letter,
565:
411:
clichés typical of the slick popular idiom of the thirties and forties." Later reception of the book was even more positive. In 1989,
730:
645:
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Literary Fellowship, which she won in 1938 in advance of her first novel. She completed the novel over the course of three years.
213:. Drought and heavy rains wreak havoc on the town, and the harvest is poor. Clory gives birth to a daughter nicknamed Kissy, and
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134:. The idea for the novel started as a short story submitted to the Rocky Mountain Writer's conference in 1937. There
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Salt Lake City, reprinted it in hardback under his Western Epics imprint, where it went through several printings.
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and which added substance to her longheld belief that Mormons would eventually recognize the worth of her work.
246:
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Whipple's "Beaver Dam Wash" was submitted to the 1937 Rocky Mountain Writer's Conference. At the conference,
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721:
Embry, Jessie (1994). "Maurine Whipple: The Quiet Dissenter". In Launius, Roger D.; Thatcher, Linda (eds.).
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stated it was the greatest Mormon novel. Though Whipple planned to write a sequel, she never finished one.
489:
438:
127:
126:, considered to be one of the most important works of Mormon fiction. The work portrays pioneer life and
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423:, Terryl Givens wrote that it is "perhaps the fullest cultural expression of the Mormon experience".
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Literary Fellowship, which she won in 1938 . Greenslet greatly encouraged her while she wrote
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wrote that the book showed the "tenderness and sympathy" between early Mormons. A review in
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In 1983, Whipple sold the movie rights to the book, which provided for her in her old age.
245:." Whipple focuses on the actions of pioneers, not their beliefs. The way Mormons build up
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wrote that it is "perhaps the fullest cultural expression of the Mormon experience," and
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did not have the endorsement of any LDS Church leader. John A. Widtsoe, a member of the
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novel The Giant Joshua, considered by many to be the finest work or Mormon fiction."
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Walton, Edith H. (1941-01-12). ""The Giant Joshua" and Other New Works of Fiction".
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by colonizing the desert mirrors a figurative building of the church as Zion.
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series), although forty percent of respondents did not answer this question.
596:. Marriott Library, University of Utah: The Association for Mormon Letters.
965:. "Too sacred for public consumption -or- Disgusting the prophet’s wife",
514:"Maurine Whipple | Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database | HBLL"
436:
was the second-most popular item respondents listed under fiction (after
773:"Samuel Weller, Salt Lake City, Utah: an interview by Everett L. Cooley"
242:
334:
A woman, probably Maurine Whipple, poses with a giant Joshua tree.
329:
294:
268:
171:
703:, St. George, Utah: Dixie State College of Utah, pp. 14–15
471:
A Craving for Beauty: The Collected Writings of Maurine Whipple
273:
The Mansion at Yaddo, where Whipple wrote several chapters of
697:
Juanita Brooks Lecture Series: Maurine Whipple and her Joshua
404:
enjoyed a resurgence in attention from scholars. Writing for
400:
In the 1970s, with the growth of Mormons arts and criticism,
594:
Third Annual Symposium of the Association for Mormon Letters
237:
notes that the book presents plural marriage as a "marathon
476:
According to Whipple, she worked with Gene Pack to arrange
374:
showed an "intimate side of earlyday Mormon life." Indeed,
939:"Early Mormon Life, Wife's Soul, Bared in 'Giant Joshua'"
725:. Urbana : Univ. of Illinois Press. pp. 305–306.
341:
sold well. It was fifth in a list of ten in Harper's
827:. Vol. 37, no. 1. 1941-01-06. p. 61.
552:
People of paradox : a history of Mormon culture
445:Shortly before her death, Whipple was honored with
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176:The Sego Lily inspires Clory to stay in St. George
397:wrote her letters of congratulations and praise.
723:Differing visions: dissenters in Mormon history
638:Swell suffering: a biography of Maurine Whipple
556:. New York: Oxford University Press. pp.
392:said she was "so disgusted with the author of
1108:. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
8:
1039:"Which Are the Most Important Mormon Books?"
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747:"For the first time! In a paperback edition"
640:, Salt Lake City, Utah: Greg Kofford Books,
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298:longhand and had others type it up for her.
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1084:"Announcing Two New Series from BCC Press"
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779:. J. Willard Marriott Library. p. 73
419:as the best Mormon novel before 1980. In
1102:"LDS FILMMAKER DREAMS OF 'GIANT JOSHUA'"
969:. July 9, 2009. Accessed April 20, 2012.
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180:Among the many real characters such as
584:Wilson, William A. (October 7, 1978).
217:is ignored by his neighbors after the
492:, often spoke of his desire to adapt
461:Whipple planned to write a sequel to
7:
982:Jorgenson, Bruce (September 1978).
14:
1144:Works about polygamy in Mormonism
1088:By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog
667:Hale, Veda Tebbs (August 1992),
138:encouraged Whipple to apply for
351:Book-of-the-Month-Club Bulletin
301:After its publication in 1941,
1154:Novels set in the 19th century
1067:Association for Mormon Letters
1017:"Fifty Important Mormon Books"
900:"Today's 'Literary Guidepost'"
799:"Writers of the Mountain West"
451:Association for Mormon Letters
1:
984:"Retrospection: Giant Joshua"
669:"In Memoriam Maureen Whipple"
380:Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
359:Saturday Review of Literature
256:praised the way Whipple used
16:1941 novel by Maurine Whipple
1015:Bench, Curt (October 1990).
457:Trilogy and derivative works
447:a lifetime achievement award
122:is a 1941 novel written by
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898:Selby, John (1941-01-03).
872:Selby, John (1941-01-05).
852:The Kingston Daily Freeman
846:Selby, John (1941-01-07).
548:Givens, Terryl C. (2007).
473:, published by BCC Press.
81:, Doubleday, Western Epics
694:Hale, Veda Tebbs (2008),
636:Hale, Veda Tebbs (2011),
219:Mountain Meadows Massacre
24:
1037:Garr, Arnold K. (2002).
874:"The Literary Guidepost"
777:collections.lib.utah.edu
945:. 1941-01-03. p. 8
805:. 1942-01-28. p. 6
753:. 1964-03-09. p. 8
1159:Houghton Mifflin books
1149:Fiction about polygamy
518:mormonarts.lib.byu.edu
490:Sundance Film Festival
439:The Work and the Glory
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130:in nineteenth-century
943:The Coshocton Tribune
878:The Sandusky Register
751:The Salt Lake Tribune
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1134:1941 American novels
803:Tucson Daily Citizen
486:Sterling Van Wagenen
31:First edition (1941)
488:, cofounder of the
385:The Improvement Era
343:Poll of the Critics
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1139:Novels set in Utah
925:The New York Times
904:The Morning Herald
371:The New York Times
345:and was second in
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421:People of Paradox
254:William A. Wilson
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118:
117:
116:
1112:27 February
1043:BYU Studies
880:. p. 4
854:. p. 4
382:, wrote in
355:Avis DeVoto
252:Folklorist
215:John D. Lee
211:Sego Lilies
202:Santa Clara
186:John D. Lee
65:Set in
1128:Categories
1053:2018-07-06
1049:(3): 35–47
1001:2018-07-09
949:2018-07-05
909:2018-07-05
884:2018-07-05
858:2018-07-05
809:2018-07-05
757:2018-07-05
523:2021-07-04
500:References
427:described
265:Background
206:St. George
198:Washington
132:Utah Dixie
110:0914740172
69:Utah Dixie
833:0040-781X
496:to film.
449:from the
326:Reception
75:Publisher
1024:Sunstone
997:(6): 6–8
991:Sunstone
676:Sunstone
407:Sunstone
258:folklore
128:polygamy
47:Language
678:: 13–15
558:288–291
243:Gentile
50:English
831:
783:6 July
729:
644:
564:
229:Themes
204:, and
188:, and
37:Author
1020:(PDF)
987:(PDF)
701:(PDF)
672:(PDF)
295:Yaddo
96:Pages
55:Genre
1114:2013
829:ISSN
825:Time
785:2018
727:ISBN
642:ISBN
562:ISBN
363:Time
247:Zion
168:Plot
105:ISBN
91:1941
99:637
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1047:41
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655:^
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