Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Don't You Marry The Mormon Boys

Author: Janet Kay Jensen

ISBN: 978-1-59955-075-6

Nominated in 2007 as a finalist in USA Book News in the Religious Fiction category, Janet Kay Jensen's Don’t You Marry The Mormon Boys narrates the story of two medical students who meet and fall in love while both are attending the University of Utah.

However, there is one big problem, Andy McBride is of the Mormon faith while Louisa Martin was born and brought up in a strict polygamous community. 

After graduation and a painful break-up caused by their seemingly irreconcilable differences, the couple pursue different paths.

Andy, after several years of medical training, winds up with his dog, Eliza R. Snow, in the rural town of Hawthorn Valley, Kentucky where he is received with open arms, as the town is in dire need of a family doctor.  Louisa, on the other hand, follows her idealistic dreams and returns to her hometown of Gabriel’s Landing, Utah.

Although the two continue to experience strong feelings towards each other, it would appear that there is little hope that they will ever again reunite and marry.

In order to accomplish this feat, Louisa would have to abandon her dream of bringing modern medical practices to Gabriel’s Landing and leave her polygamous community.

Further complicating matters is that Andy’s father Cole is an Assistant Attorney General in Utah who has been assigned to prosecute several polygamy cases, and he is not too thrilled with Andy’s choice of a girlfriend and possible future wife.

As Louisa settles into her new position of family doctor in Gabriel’s Landing, her idealism is soon shattered when she discovers the community’s dark side where women and children have been abused by their husbands and fathers and that there is an unusual number of stillbirths and birth defects. As she states, “Gabriel’s Landing was not the peaceful, harmonious community she had always imagined, though members of her family continued to be, as far as she could tell, kind and loving to each other.”

Thrown into the saga is the Council of Brothers decision obliging Louise to marry John Olsen who already has five wives and thirty children.  Furthermore, Olsen is only a few years younger than Louisa’s father Joshua.  Upon being notified of the Council’s decision, Joshua is unyielding in his refusal to permit the marriage and openly challenges their decision by informing the brothers that she cannot marry a man whom she does not love.

Louisa also finds herself in a great deal of hot water when she is summoned before the same Council and questioned if she counselled her patients about contraception, birth defects and depression. Her reply was that to answer the question would be to defy doctor-patient confidentiality, something she was not prepared to do. When she tries to explain the problem of marrying close relatives, she is rebuked and informed that the community does not need outsiders to meddle into their affairs for it is only the will of God that they must obey and no one else. Louisa, who causes quite a media stir, is forced to leave the community she loved and moves to Salt Lake City.

Andy discovers that practicing medicine in a small town is not exactly something he had envisaged particularly when he is called upon to treat an unwed pregnant teenager, who was badly beaten by her drunken father, Bo Rawlins. As Andy is soon to learn, his kindness towards the teenager and her brother will eventually result in some very harrowing experiences between himself and Bo, someone who doesn’t appreciate outsiders intruding in his family affairs.

Janet Kay Jensen is a writer of enormous talent, skill, and quite knowledgeable as she sheds light on Mormonism and polygamous communities which she skilfully interweaves into her story.

She also has a gift of descriptive prose, stirring up a sense of presence and emotion.

Particularly striking is the small slice of life of a country doctor that rings so true, and when reading about Andy, it brought back my own childhood memories when my father would tell me how he began his medical practice in 1925 in a small village in Quebec.

Moreover, all of the supporting characters carry out important plot functions and it is here where Jensen is at her best, capturing wisps of their thoughts and emotions.

Louisa’s father Joshua effectively playing the “fight role” when he stands up to the Council of Brothers with his fiery reactions to their dictatorial behavior. The mean Bo Rawlins seeking revenge, and Miss. Carolina with her herbal remedies and down-to-earth advice that startles Andy and even perhaps makes him a believer in alternative medicine.  

This is one compelling novel you won’t want to miss.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With Janet Kay Jensen

Click Here To Purchase From Amazon Don't You Marry The Mormon Boys

The above review was contributed by: The Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com, Norm Goldman, B.A. LL.L, Retired Title Attorney: Norm is also a travel writer and together with his artist wife, Lily, the couple meld Norm's words with Lily's art. To check out their travel site click on Sketchandtravel.com   Click here to view Norm’s Reviews & Interviews.

Click Image Below To Find Out More About Don't You Marry The Mormon Boys (Note: May not work with all browsers)