Like so many other times before, the doorbell is ringing
too
early in the morning or too late at night. Someone wants
to
see the Bishop. Linda Wallheim is used to it and to being
labelled as THE BISHOP'S WIFE, not always seen as a person
unto herself. She quickly wakes Kurt, her husband, and
goes
down to open the door and to care for who is there.
Not that Linda minds all the time. As THE BISHOP'S WIFE,
she is used to it, despite the upheavals it may cause in
their busy family life. It is easier now that not all five
of her sons are living at home with only Samuel, a high
school senior left. This time, it is a very distressed
looking Jared Helm and his young five year old daughter
Kelly. The family are members of the Bishop's ward in the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as
LDS or the Mormon church).
Linda is also used to the confidences that Kurt is firm
about keeping as part of his role as Bishop, but she is
curious. As it will soon be public knowledge, Kurt tells
her the story that Jared's wife had left her husband.
But,
knowing how much Carrie Helm loves her daughter and when
no
word is heard from the deserting wife, Linda begins to
wonder what is really going on. Soon, she is actively
seeking out opportunities to help by babysitting Kelly.
What she sees and hears makes her more determined to find
out more. But Kurt is both her husband and her Bishop,
will
he approve? What will happen to her and her family if
she
continues to seek out clues? What will happen to her if
she
does not?
THE BISHOP'S WIFE by Mettie Ivie Harrison is a very
intriguing and captivating mystery with an unusual
backdrop
of being set in the context of a religious leader's family
and involving their local church members and community.
Harrison is a practicing member of her church and, as an
experienced writer already well known in the young adult
market, THE BISHOP'S WIFE has a very authentic tone and
gives an insider look at current LDS beliefs and practices
that will appeal to both Mormon and non-Mormon readers
alike. Harrison writes from her heart and many of the
feelings and reactions that Linda, her main character,
experiences have their source from the wellspring of her
own experiences of grief and compassion.
I especially like how she covers in THE BISHOP'S WIFE how
women can be both abused and supported by the male-
dominated
orientation and practices in the Mormon church and in
their
family lives. I also appreciate how she nicely balances
out
the good and extreme beliefs as well as changing practices
in her dialogues between the characters and Linda's
thoughts
about their interactions. Her descriptions of church life,
be it LDS or not, and all the work volunteers do,
especially
the women, is very true to life and normative for many
places.
Personally, I could not barely put down THE BISHOP'S WIFE
and just wanted to read it without stopping as I just got
so
pulled into the storyline and wanting to know what would
happen next. Harrison has taken a seemingly simple
mystery
and put in some very surprising twists which takes things
to
a much more complex and deeper level which pulls how deep
secrets and betrayals and moves them into the light for
redemption and hope. I particularly like how Harrison
weaves
overarching themes of friendship, faith, acceptance and
grief interwoven into the storylines as a natural part of
church life and character development. A special example
of
this is in the discussion about the uniqueness of the
undergarments worn by LDS men by the two women preparing
the
body for the funeral.
I also love Linda Wallheim as a character. She is caring,
intelligent, curious and has such caring compassion for
the
people she knows. Yet, at times, I also feel frustrated by
some of her reactions to certain critical clues as they
seem
out of alignment with her personality. She seems too
action
oriented to just let things lie or to be worrying so much
about the implications if she does or doesn't deal with
them. This ambivalence would jar me a bit but then I am
quickly pulled back into the story of THE BISHOP'S WIFE
again as the action moves forward.
How Harrison interplays what is happening outside the home
with the secrets and their own sorrows and joys in the
home
is wonderfully done and it a key part of the storyline.
So,
while there may be some small frustrations; overall, it is
very well-written book with really surprising and shocking
turn of events. I found THE BISHOP'S WIFE to be a
fascinating and insightful read and I think you will as
well! Enjoy!
In the predominantly Mormon city of Draper, Utah, some
seemingly perfect families have deadly secrets.
Inspired by an actual crime and written by a practicing
Mormon, The Bishop’s Wife is both a fascinating look at
the
lives of modern Mormons as well as a grim and cunningly
twisted mystery.
Linda Wallheim is the mother of five grown boys and the
wife
of a Mormon bishop. As bishop, Kurt Wallheim is the ward’s
designated spiritual father, and that makes Linda the
ward’s
unofficial mother, and her days are filled with comfort
visits, community service, and informal counseling.
But Linda is increasingly troubled by the church’s
patriarchal structure and secrecy, especially as a
disturbing situation takes shape in the ward. One cold
winter morning, a neighbor, Jared Helm, appears on the
Wallheims’ doorstep with his 5-year-old daughter, claiming
that his wife, Carrie, disappeared in the middle of the
night, leaving behind everything she owns. The
circumstances
surrounding Carrie’s disappearance become more suspicious
the more Linda learns about them, and she becomes
convinced
that Jared has murdered his wife and painted himself as an
abandoned husband.
Kurt asks Linda not to get involved in the unfolding
family
saga, but she has become obsessed with Carrie’s fate, and
with the well-being of her vulnerable young daughter. She
cannot let the matter rest until she finds out the truth.
Is
she wrong to go against her husband, the bishop, when her
inner convictions are so strong?
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