Author's Note

To all who have discovered painful truths

I have taken great pains to align this fictional narrative with the best historical records available. In an appendix in the back of the novel, you will find a short list of some of the resources used to inform each scene. I encourage you to investigate these in depth if the subject matter is of interest to you.

Historical accounts generally, and the records pertaining to these particulars, are not often conclusive. Nearly all of the material available via (and controlled by) the Mormon church has been adulterated by them in unknowable ways, many times by multiple parties throughout the history of the church. The “History of the Church” compilation, for example, was not only recorded by those in the employ of Joseph Smith but was further manipulated by church historians like George A. Smith before release to the public. Joseph Fielding Smith, a Church Historian and later “Prophet” of the Mormon church, is infamous for having cut out the original version of Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” from the 1832 journal and book of letters, likely because it did not align with the much later 1838 version that the modern church has espoused. Still other records are withheld from the public eye to this day.

It also goes without saying that accounts from those in or near to the Smith family are very likely affected by significant bias, like the remembrances of Lucy Mack Smith and the oft-revised recordings of Joseph Smith Jr. himself. That said, the scholarly work of historians associated with Brigham Young University and that of the folks that compiled the Joseph Smith Papers has been of great help when trying to piece together the reality of the founding of Mormonism.

Contemporary accounts not provided by the Mormon church or its adherents, such as the 1833 Hurlbut affidavits from neighbors of the Smith family in the Palmyra area, are not always conclusive or fully consistent either. They are equally subject to the foibles of imperfect memory, in many cases are colored by strong emotion, and could as easily contain falsehoods as the material produced by official Mormon sources. No matter where they went, however, many neighbors did not seem to think much of the Smith family, and they were willing to swear under oath to that effect. How interesting, then, that the Smiths were so successful in building a powerful, lasting religious (and cultural) establishment in the Mormon church.

There have been many excellent historical accounts of the beginnings of Mormonism. I particularly recommend the works of D. Michael Quinn and Dan Vogel to those who wish to examine historical events and context in depth. “No Man Knows My History” by Fawn Brodie and “Rough Stone Rolling” by Richard Bushman are also worthwhile accounts of the early moments in Mormon history.

This novel does not endeavor to add to the historical record. Rather than add yet another historical nonfiction commentary, this story is an attempt to parse the various accounts, determine the events most likely to be the truth, and to bring the story to life via a (mostly) fictional narrative so that readers can judge for themselves. Besides the clearly delineated historical quotes and documents, there are in several places inserted into the narrative the verbatim or nearly verbatim words of the Smiths or their familiars and contemporaries.

Also of note: for this work I have adopted a narrative style fairly consistent with that of relatively educated persons in early America. The writings of the Smiths and most of the people featured in this story were much less eloquent, and in some cases nearly unintelligible, as is evident to any who peruse primary sources like the original writings of Joseph Knight Sr., Lucy Mack Smith, or the few documents written by Joseph Smith’s own hand before he adopted the habit of delegating such recordings to his acolytes.

Enjoy the show.

Scott Lofgren Smith