Effigy

By Alissa York

A stunning novel of loss, memory, despair and deliverance by one of Canada’s best young fiction writers, set on a Mormon ranch in nineteenth-century Utah.

Dorrie, a shock-pale child with a mass of untameable black hair, cannot recall anything of her life before she recovered from an illness at seven. A solitary child, she spends her spare time learning the art of taxidermy, completely fascinated by the act of bringing new and eternal life to the bodies of the dead. At fourteen, her parents marry her off to Erastus Hammer, a polygamous horse breeder and renowned hunter, who does not want to bed her. The role he has in mind for his fourth and youngest wife is creator of trophies of his most impressive kills, an urgent desire in him as he is slowly going blind. Happy to be given this work, Dorrie secludes herself in her workshop, away from Mother Hammer’s watchful eyes and the rivalry between the elder wives.

But as the novel opens, Hammer has brought Dorrie his latest kills, a family of wolves, and for the first time in her short life she struggles with her craft, dreaming each night of crows and strange scenes of violence. The new hand, Bendy Drown, is the only one to see her dilemma and to offer her help, a dangerous game in a Mormon household. Outside, a lone wolf prowls the grounds looking for his lost pack, and his nighttime searching will unearth the tensions and secrets of this complicated and conflicted family.

Inspired by the real events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre in 1857, Alissa York blends fact with fiction in a haunting story of a family separated by secrets and united by faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 29, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307375629

Alissa York

Alissa York's novels Mercy, Effigy, and Fauna, have been nominated for the Giller Prize and other major awards.

Reviews for Effigy

[lkernagh · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set on a Mormon ranch in 19th century Utah, this multi-faceted, vignette-styled story is a dense, complicated and rewarding read, at least for this reader. Inspired by the real events of the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857, York's story is a complicated weave of the hard scrabble of western settlement, the harm inflicted through religious righteousness, and the impact of settlement on the lives of the original people of the land. Dense topics are wound through this story that, at is center, is a story of a polygamous family. As York passes the narrator baton from character to character - including Dorrie's mom in the form of letters written to her daughter and a raven/crow that haunts Dorrie's dreams - we come to learn the horrifying details of the 1857 massacre and uncover various secrets each character conceals. Personally, I loved this story for its evocative, lyrical style and the depth to which York bears open her characters. Yes, with the story continually shifting between 10 narrators, it never settles for too long on one character or point of view. Thankfully, York gives her characters very unique personalities and passions, making them memorable. The story also conveys a fair bit of detail about taxidermy, raising silkworms and horse breeding. If that is not enough, the details about the Hammer ranch hand John James "Bendy" Drown's experiences as an abandoned child in gold-rush era San Francisco to contortionist with a traveling circus and then rider with the Pony Express, while fascinating - left this reader wondering if York was trying to cram too much into one story. Sadly, the ending came off rather rushed and left me unsatisfied after such a brilliant lead up. I can see why this book was a finalist (but not winner) for the 2007 Giller Prize. Overall, a well researched and beautifully written story that, while complicated and at time dense with information, give a very evocative experience of 19th century Utah ranch life.

[danaburgess · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

While cruising the stacks at the local library, I ran across 'Effigy' by Alissa York. I was immediately drawn to the cover and pleased to see it was a Giller Prize finalist. Historical fiction - inspired by the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857; and polygamy - very interesting subject; throw in a little weirdness with the fourth wife who spends all of her time in the barn practicing the art of taxidermy and it all should add up to a compelling read. (For those of you who commented on my Tuesday Teaser, it was a scene where Dorrie is preparing a wolf family for stuffing)Sadly, I felt a little let down after reading this novel. Maybe I had built it up too much in my mind but I found it lacking. I didn't ever get close enough to the characters to care much about their experiences. Their personalities were all just too bizarre, which made it hard to think of the characters as real. There was also a lot of jumping around in the story and that tends to lose me as a reader unless there are definite separations - like different font or chapter titles that explain who is speaking. I always felt like I was finally drawn into one plot line when I was, unexpectedly tossed into another.All in all Ms York's 'Effigy' is a dark portrayal of a strange time - maybe just a little too dark and strange.

[keywestnan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a lovely novel, set on a Mormon ranch in Utah in 1867 -- with numerous flashbacks giving us the background on the interesting, complicated characters. The center is the family of Erastus Hammer, a horse dealer and avid hunter who is losing his vision. He has four wives, the youngest of whom he married for her taxidermy skills. Besides Erastus and his wives, we get the stories of his oldest son, his Native American employee (called Tracker) whom Hammer pays to shoot the prey he wants but can no longer sight (although Hammer still claims credit), and his new farmhand, a doublejointed young man who has worked as a contortionist and stable boy. There's a lot going on, a lot of it tracing back to the Mountain Meadows Massacre (an actual historical event) but the story unfolds beautifully.

[niecierpek · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The book takes place in Utah ten years after the Mountain Meadows massacre, around which it loosely revolves. All the characters in the book, members of a large, well-to-do polygamous Mormon family, are in some way connected to it. The family is headed by a 50 year old Erastus Hammer, and consists of him and his four wives, the youngest of whom, Dorrie, is a teenager and an avid taxidermist- the producer of the title’s effigies. The remaining three are of different age, backgrounds, interests and dispositions. The big family is complete with a brood of children, a Native American man, and a contortionist and a horse whisperer. There is no fondness in the family; nobody really gets along with anybody else, but iron discipline is kept by the matriarch- the oldest wife, Ursula. As the book progresses, the events of the Mountain Meadows massacre are presented as snatches of memories, reminiscences, dreams, pieced together as experienced by different participants. The events, which became one of blackest pages in the Mormon history, involved a mass slaughter of innocent and unsuspecting immigrants going to California in a wagon train by the local Mormon militia in September 1857, and became later known as the Mtn Meadows Massacre. All adults and older children from the convoy, around one hundred and twenty of them, were slain and their belongings looted. Seventeen younger children were spared and given to Mormon families in the area, and most of them were later reclaimed by their families. The Mormon militias were disguised as Native Americans, whom they subsequently blamed for the attack. The carnage was atrocious- human skeletons, dismembered bodies and bones scattered by wolves were left unburied for days. We learn about it all through the retrospect memories of all the characters who are interesting and varied and presented with great detail. The language is quite beautiful and the scenes very evocative and well done. Yet, the book fails in one respect. For the most of it there is no plot. It somehow doesn’t progress beyond introduction for more than nine tenths of it. We are constantly presented with backgrounds to characters, and then more characters, and then more background. The plot occupies the last tenth of the book, and that’s probably not enough. Consequently, at no point, save for the last twenty pages or so, did I feel compelled to go on with it.

[picardyrose · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow, this book is TERRIFIC. I did see the supposed twist coming a long ways away, but the ending surprised me all the same.

[shelion_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mormonism, the gold rush, and taxidermy are some of the subjects explored in the book. Great in depth detail and plot.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Effigy is set in Utah, primarily in 1867. It tells the story of a Mormon household: Erastus Hammer, his four wives, six children, hired man and Indian guide. It is a story about family secrets, love, betrayal and loss.The characters are all wonderfully developed. Erastus is losing his sight and wants to preserve his hunting "trophies". This is why he marries, as his fourth wife, 14-year-old Dorrie: she is an exceptional taxidermist. Dorrie comes from a troubled past and has no memory of the first seven years of her life. The third wife is Erastus's favourite: an actress who refuses to integrate with the family until she becomes involved with the eldest son, Lal. Lal covets the second wife, Ruth, who is the natural mother of his five siblings. The first wife, Ursula, runs the household and raises the children. The hired man, Bendy Drown, also has a powerful back story and he comes to the aid of Dorrie when she struggles to continue her assigned role.And the Indian guide, Tracker, faces his own dilemmas of dealing with loss.This is a powerful story of faith and faithfulness. Excellent.