It takes us on adventures in which incidents like a train robbery and appearances by famous characters like Thomas Edison and notable LDS ones like Jane Manning James routinely occur.
While Elizabeth faces setbacks, she remains open to seizing unexpected opportunities.įirst and foremost, the novel is fun. Along the way, she confronts her complicity with racism and struggles with how to present herself when people she encounters are skeptical of the religion she values. Her journey from home to assist a pregnant sister takes unexpected turns that allow her to meet fellow female astronomers and witness an eclipse. Rosalyn Eves’ Beyond the Mapped Stars (Knopf, 2021) is a significant achievement, because Eves has written a young adult historical novel published by a national press that both satisfies the hunger of LDS young women to recognize themselves in literature while focusing on themes and events that have universal appeal.īeyond the Mapped Stars tells the story of Elizabeth Bertelsen, an aspiring astronomer from a rural, polygamous LDS family who wonders whether her aspiration is compatible with the competing desires she feels towards her religion, family and romance. Those that are published (many of which are excellent) often derive their marketability by playing into sensationalized tropes about Mormonism held by outsiders, particularly those that depict LDS women as in need of rescue from their culture. Although many contemporary LDS writers have achieved national recognition in science fiction and young adult literature, it remains rare for a national press to publish a book by an LDS author in which their religion features prominently–a fact that many have attributed to the lack of national interest in Mormonism, the suspicion with which members often receive unofficial books that deal with the Church, and the lack of robust institutional structures for supporting LDS literature. I was startled to realize recently that I had never read a mainstream novel by and about an LDS woman, despite holding a PhD in English.
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