For Love and Zion: A Novel

by Laurel Mouritsen

A story of a family separated by religion in the 1840s. One daughter chooses to marry a non-Mormon and remain behind in Nauvoo, while the rest of the family journeys across the plains to the Great Basin.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance, Lds

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Rex Cluff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story about a pioneer family struggling to start over in the Salt Lake Valley after being forced out of Nauvoo. One daughter does not make the trip and her choice has difficult consequences. The distinction between the Latter-day Saints and the rest of society is illustrated from and LDS bias. The plot is not deep and is generally predictable but still a lovely story. As a descendant of a pioneer family that lived through those same circumstances, I can relate to the story and find heartwarming information inside. This is a good representative of LDS historical fiction and romance. I can recommend it for anybody that wants a relaxing story.

[Haley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only finished this one because it was so short. Otherwise, I would have set it aside halfway through. I'm not sure why this one piqued my interest to where I added it to my reading queue. 🤔 The narrator read in a monotone with no expression. If I remember correctly, the narrator was the author, so I would have higher expectations for reading your own work. I never got invested in the characters and didn't care about their lives or story...

[Michelle Llewellyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is merely OK because Mouritsen used it as her third installment in the Kade Family Saga series under it's new title, Between Two Shores. You can look it up yourself on the copyright page of Kade Family Saga book #3 Between Two Shores where is says:
"Rewritten and reformatted for the Kade Family Saga series. Between Two Shores was originally published as For Love and Zion in 1997."
When Between Two Shores came out in 2005 I had to stop reading and check to make sure I had the right book because I knew I'd read this story somewhere before! Yes, it's the same book but with a few minor changes. In this book Lydia and Christian are called Kent instead of Kade. Everything else is almost exactly the same, even the chapter breaks between the two books are exactly the same.
So this is where Mouritsen got her idea to take this story about a family that joins the church and migrates to Utah while the oldest daughter marries a non-member and becomes inactive and it turn into an entire series.
My advice is to skip this book and just go read the entire Kade Family Saga series. It's not Work and the Glory but still good reading.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a slower book. It was great in that it showed the realistic trials that the saints went through in their persecutions and mob threats in the early stages of the church. It showed of the division of families as elizabeth decides not to go along with the family after they are driven out of nauvoo, but remains behind and how she has her own struggles with her decisions. it reveals the heartache of the saints on their journey to the great salt lake. It also has a love story.

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story of a family separated by religion in the 1840s. One daughter chooses to marry a non-Mormon and remain behind in Nauvoo, while the rest of the family journeys across the plains to the Great Basin. Maybe there's a sequel, but it seemed that there were some loose ends when the story ended.

[Susette Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok read, but I don't want to read it again