Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Of One Heart: The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma



The extraordinary love story of Joseph and Emma Hale Smith is tenderly
portrayed in a unique new Covenant release entitled, Of One Heart: The
Love Letters of Joseph and Emma, by Angela Eschler.

As an editor at Covenant, Angela Eschler has long exercised her writing
and editing talents to improve the works of other authors, including my
own. In Of One Heart: The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma, Mrs.
Eschler's first authored work, her exceptional writing skills and
knowledge of the Prophet and Emma is evident. Punctuated by the
emotional artwork of Liz Lemon Swindle, Eschler has carefully selected
poignant excerpts from the Smith's private correspondence and
wrapped them in beautifully crafted historical content and corroborating
scripture.

The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma is divided into five concise
chapters, each one correlating to a period in Joseph and Emma's
marriage-- Love and Devotion, Sorrow and Separation, Consolation in
Companionship, Faith in Adversity, Reunion and Peace. As a historical
examination, "Love Letters" illuminates the great love that
succored Joseph and Emma through the too frequent separations, the
exquisite sorrows and the sweetness of the joys that defined their
lives.

But there is much more here for the reader. From Mrs. Eschler's
intimate Dedication, which is drawn from the example of Joseph's
ministrations to Emma, to the triumphal promises of eternal reunion
expressed in the closing scriptures from the Doctrine and Covenants,
this book is a delicately crafted celebration of the power of marriage
and love.

Counseled as we are to seek for "patterns" in our lives, Of One
Heart: The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma, provides readers with a
unique vantage point from which to observe the Smiths' enduring
love. From the secret elopement to Joseph, to which Emma consented
saying, "she preferred `to marry him more than anyone [else she]
knew,'" through seventeen turbulent years, theirs was a marriage
imbued with loyalty, tenderness and faith. Being perhaps the ultimate
example of enduring love under fire, Joseph and Emma may therefore
provide the ultimate pattern for building a strong marriage.

In Of One Heart: The Love Letters of Joseph and Emma, by combining the
power of Angela Eschler's beautiful writing with samples from Liz
Lemon Swindle's evocative portraits of the Smiths, Covenant has
produced a work that reaches deep into the hearts of readers,
personalizing the Prophet and Emma to a rising generation of Saints who
may confidently draw upon their example of marital love and loyalty.

2 comments:

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Wow. That sounds like an incredible book. I admire and love Emma. She is an example to me of a wonderful, kind, and giving woman who with-stood many difficult trials. I'm very excited to read this new book and delve into her relationship with Joseph. Thank you for the review!

Erika said...

I love Liz Lemon Swindle. I think we have found mom's Christmas present. I want a copy too. Is it out in bookstores?