Nephi’s Wife
A steadfast, supportive couple stays true to the task of finding a new home for their family in the engaging historical novel Nephi’s Wife.
Intended to complement the Book of Mormon, Madelyn S. Palmer’s sprawling historical novel Nephi’s Wife follows a family’s search for their promised land.
In the wake of their group patriarch Lehi’s visions of Jerusalem’s impending unrest, Didi and her sisters marry Lehi’s sons in a group wedding ceremony. Lehi tells them all to establish a new home away from Jerusalem. As soon as their caravan sets off, though, the brothers begin to bicker. Some question the wisdom of leaving; most resent Didi’s husband, Nephi, who has a leadership role despite being younger.
The lengthy chapters mirror the yearslong stages of the family’s travels; they move at a straggling pace, though clarifying the period and the setting with details about deserts, humid areas, and the sea. Bread making and foraging for food when the bread runs out are covered in addition to hunting practices, shipbuilding techniques, and religious rituals. However, these cultural and geographic markers are sometimes described in a didactic manner that is at odds with how the book’s central conflicts are narrated.
As they travel, Didi and Nephi’s bond is established as a smoldering one; they are steadfast in their devotion to one other. They cast sidelong glances at each other, exchange small gifts, and save each other from harm. At one point, Nephi sucks the poison from Didi’s snake bite; elsewhere, Didi tends to Nephi after his brothers torture him. Though the other women challenge Didi’s fidelity to Nephi, she has a vision that solidifies her commitment to him—and to their ultimate task.
In turn, Nephi supports Didi’s personal aspirations, teaching her to read and write. She uses these skills to record their family’s narrative with Nephi. However, Nephi’s development is limited in comparison to Didi’s; his prophetic calling, inherited from his father, is his defining characteristic, and he is not fleshed out much beyond that. Furthermore, the family beyond the couple is underdeveloped; their experiences are covered in the manner of synopses, and they are too often rendered ancillary to Nephi and Didi’s story. Still, as Nephi’s jealous brothers graduate from teasing him to harming him and endangering others, they force the couple to make a hard decision about continuing their task.
The passionate Christian novel Nephi’s Wife is about a faithful husband and wife who face their nemeses together.
Reviewed by
Mari Carlson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
