Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe is a biography of Emma Hale Smith, wife of Joseph Smith Jr., written by Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery.
Generally accepted as a groundbreaking biography, the book places Emma Smith into a context that has better explained the trials and sacrifices of the members of the early Latter Day Saint church. The work made possible, along with other more recent historical works, a major reinterpretation of the formative period of Mormonism.
The book won the 1984 Best Book Award for interpretive history by the Mormon History Association.[1]
Avery and Newell provided the following note in the book's introduction:
Early leaders in Utah castigated Emma from their pulpits for opposing Brigham Young and the practice of polygamy, and for lending support to the Reorganization. As these attitudes filtered down through the years, Emma was virtually written out of official Utah histories. In this biography, we have attempted to reconstruct the full story of this remarkable and much misunderstood woman's experiences.
— authors note in their introduction[2]
Despite its quality and recognition, the biography was startling and controversial among leaders, administrators and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shortly after publication, Avery and Newell, both participating members in the church, were refused any opportunity to talk about their research or book in church meetings.[3] In the preface to the second edition of the book, the authors wrote: "After a ten-months stalemate Linda Newell successfully petitioned church leaders to reconsider the prohibition. On April 26, 1986, she was informed that the restrictions ... were no longer in effect." Yet the fact that the lifting of that ban was not reported by the church-owned newspaper Deseret News led them to say that it "gave the unmistakable message to faithful church members that both the book and its authors were still suspect."
^"MHA Awards" (PDF). Mormon History Association. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
^"Mormon Enigma". University of Illinois Press.
^"The Mormon Reinvention of Emma Smith". 23 April 2013.
MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith, Prophet's Wife, "Elect Lady," Polygamy's Foe is a biography of Emma Hale Smith, wife of Joseph Smith Jr., written by Linda...
ISBN 978-0-19-090941-3. Newell, Linda King; Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1994). MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.). Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press...
The Mormon History Association (MHA) is an independent, non-profit organization dedicated to the study and understanding of all aspects of Mormon history...
Retrieved 2023-05-17. Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery, MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (New York: Doubleday, 1984). ISBN 0-385-17166-8. 2nd...
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Heber Chase". Utah History Encyclopedia. Newell, Linda King (1984). MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith. Valeen Tippetts Avery (1st ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-17166-8...
Day Saint history. With biographer Linda King Newell, she co-authored MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith, a biography of the wife of the founder of the Church...
Tippetts (1994). MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2d ed.). University of Illinois Press. pp. 44. ISBN 978-0252062919. See also MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith...
Tippetts (1994). MormonEnigma. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Smith, George D. (Spring–Summer 2001). "Nauvoo Roots of Mormon Polygamy, 1841-46:...
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Linda King (1994), MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2d ed.), University of Illinois Press, pp. 111–113, ISBN 978-0-252-06291-9 "Mormon Church History". Retrieved...
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Linda King; Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1994). "In Search of Iniquity". MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.). New York: Doubleday. pp. 106–108. ISBN 0-252-06291-4...
(1994), The Mormon Hierarchy: Origins of Power, Salt Lake City: Signature Books Newell, Linda King; Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1994), MormonEnigma: Emma Hale...
(1994), MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.), University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-06291-4. Ostling, Richard; Ostling, Joan K. (1999), Mormon America:...
Subjects of criticism of the Book of Mormon include its origins, authenticity, and historicity, which have been subject to considerable criticism from...
Linda King; Avery, Valeen Tippetts (1994). "In Search of Iniquity". MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.). New York: Doubleday. pp. 106–108. ISBN 0-252-06291-4...
Retrieved July 24, 2017. Newell, Linda King; Valeen Tippetts Avery (1994). MormonEnigma: Emma Hale Smith (2nd ed.). Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois...
Mormon History. 18 (2): 6–40 – via Digital Commons@USU. Walker, et al., 67, "Episodes 285-287: D. Michael Quinn – 21st Century MormonEnigma", MormonStories...
Howard A; Vinik, Arthur (2005). Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon? The Spalding Enigma. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House. ISBN 0-7586-0527-7.....
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