The Bishop's Wife

Close. Members of book clubs should consider selecting Mette Ivie Harrison’s novel, The Bishop’s Wife. It’s a book that is likely to encourage lively conversation about the characters and the situation. Protagonist Linda Wallheim is happily married to a man serving as a Mormon bishop in a Utah town and is the mother of five sons. When a young wife and mother disappears, Linda becomes involved in trying to figure out what happened. Harrison presents issues of gender and domestic abuse within the context of a small community, especially when there are extremists with clear expectations of acceptable behavior. The pace of the novel is slow, and so much of the narrative seems very ordinary. I enjoyed reading it, mostly because it conveyed a point of view about relationships in a close church community that I found both unfamiliar and interesting. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase The Bishop’s Wife from amazon.com.