The authors have done an excellent job of helping the reader avoid confusing the four Zinas by including a simple genealogy, a collection of photographs, and helpful explanations. The narrative is engaging and draws on journal entries and letters to give the reader a sense of what these women were thinking and feeling as well as doing. This is a most valuable contribution to Mormon women's history. In structure, content, and method, it can serve admirably as a model for similar comparative Mormon studies.

John Whitmer Historical Journal, Beth Anderson
A comfortable, welcoming read, Bradley and Woodward have succeeded in capturing the vitality and spirit of four women whose lives exemplify dedication, loyalty, and trust. Not only is the tapestry of their intertwined lives revealed, but also on a larger scale we "trace the changing views of feminine spirituality and the meaning of female religious leadership in early Mormon history" (xiv). While each of the Zinas displayed an unfailing devotion to their religion, their individuality was always foremost as that religion elicited informed, rather than blind obedience from these women.

Four Zinas is rich with personal experiences and musings found in the letters preserved in numerous library collections. The mother-daughter relationship is deeply validated throughout the four generations. The longing during separations is especially evident as the women maintained communications through what Zina Diantha called their "silent conversation" (12). Through these silent conversations we see Zina's religiosity become inflamed with the burnings within her heart as she encounters a new faith in Mormonism, "a phenomenon not unlike a new birth" (45). Zina and her family entered the waters of baptism vowing to prove not only their faith, but also their strength of character as they suffered and rejoiced with the Saints in building the kingdom of God on the earth. This dedication to faith was passed on to succeeding generations with Zina Presendia a main beneficiary. Daughter of Zina Diantha's union with Brigham Young, Zina Presendia had been instilled with a desire to live the life of a Saint and she did so whether in the valley of the Salt Lake or the wilds of the Canadian frontier. This particular mother-daughter team had not only the vagaries of frontier life to cope with, but were both asked to make the supreme sacrifice of living the revealed order of plural marriage. While not denying the difficulties, each affirmed the blessings of participating in the "great and glorious" (161) purposes of the Lord.

Bradley and Woodward mark the loneliness suffered by these pioneer women as they struggled to raise their families in sometimes destitute circumstances, but they also note the seasons of joy as the Zinas are privy to "the company of friends and a feast of the spirit" (175).

Zina Card Brown, Zina Presendia's daughter, is the last Zina portrayed. While her life was very different in substance from that of her mother and grandmother, the same ideals of faith, family, and service are abundantly evidenced as she tamed her own frontiers.

Missing in the volume is a detailed genealogy of the women and their families. There is a brief summary in the introduction, but a more complete one would be appreciated. One distracting tendency is found in the latter part of the book as the narrative switches from a chronological to a topical theme, often abruptly. This becomes confusing and sometimes redundant as the authors jump back and forth between Zinas.

But the authors of Four Zinas have provided a wonderful glimpse into the lives of a family of women who can be viewed as stalwart and strong. Bradley and Woodward richly deserved being awarded the Ella Larsen Turner Award for Best Biography at the 2001 Mormon History Association meeting.

Bookwatch
Four Zinas: A Story of Mothers and Daughters on the Mormon Frontier is the story of a four-generation family of women who shared many things in common, foremost of which was the name Zina. Zina Baker Huntington converted to Mormonism in New York in 1835. Her daughter, Zina Huntington Young married Joseph Smith, and upon his death, married Brigham Young and served as the Mormon Church's general Relief Society President. Then her daughter, Zina Young Card assisted her husband, Charles Ora Card, in founding Cardston, Alberta, Canada. And in time, her daughter, Zina Card Brown married future Mormon church apostle Hugh B. Brown. Four Zinas is the fascinating story of how this extended family helped to shape their respected eras within the Mormon community. Zina Young and Zina Card worked tirelessly for woman's suffrage, encouraging women to study nursing and become involved in industry. All of the women promoted drama and literature, inspiring others through their speeches and expressions of spirituality (including the Mormon custom of "speaking in tongues"). These were women who enabled Mormon women to feel good about themselves, and in the process, made their frontier worlds welcome places to establish families and enjoy life. Four Zinas is very highly recommended for women's studies, American frontier studies, and Mormon history studies reading lists.

Latter-day Messenger, Lynndee Haag
Four Zinas is a biography of four mothers and daughters, two of whom were part of polygamist families. The first Zina is Zina Baker, born May 2, 1786, in New Hampshire. At age nineteen she married William Huntington Jr. and moved to Watertown. Here she became caught up in the religious revival and eventually joined the church.

The second Zina is her daughter, Zina Diantha Huntington, born on January 31, 1812. She married Henry Jacobs, who gave her up to Joseph Smith for a plural wife; when Joseph died, she became one of Brigham Young's plural wives.

The third Zina is Zina Presendia Young, Zina Diantha's and Brigham's daughter, born on April 3, 1850. She was one of a group of half-sisters raised in the Lion House who were referred to as the Big Ten. Zina Presendia married Thomas Williams on October 12, 1868. After Thomas's death, she became a plural wife of Charles Ora Card on June 17, 1884.

The last Zina is Zina Card, daughter of Zina Presendia and Charles Card, who was born in June 1888 in Cardston, Alberta. Zina Card married Hugh B. Brown in June 1908, and it is her daughter Mary who co-wrote this book.

Although I had a hard time getting into this book at first, once into it, I found it very interesting. Sometimes it read like a sociology textbook. I found the second and third Zinas' lives more interesting than the first because they lived as plural wives. Since you don't hear much about polygamy in the church, I found these first-hand accounts very interesting and felt like the writers gave insights into the difficulties and challenges of polygamy.

If you like biographies, you will enjoy this one. An amazing amount of research went into it, and it is mostly first-hand accounts taken from the letters and diaries of these women.

BYU Magazine, Richard H. Cracroft
Four Zinas is a fascinating look at Mormonism by Martha Sonntag Bradley and Mary Brown Firmage Woodward (class of '37). Here are the stories of Zina Baker Huntington, an early convert; her daughter, Zina Huntington Young, who married Joseph Smith Jr. and Brigham Young, successively, and served as the Relief Society general president; her daughter, Zina Young Card, who assisted her husband, Charles Ora Card, in founding Cardston, Alberta; and her daughter, Zina Card Brown (Woodward's mother), who married Hugh B. Brown, a future counselor in the First Presidency. Bradley and Woodward's careful research into these lives yields a spiritual and warmly human account of four remarkable women and their contributions to their times, families, communities, and church.

Deseret Book Club
Mother, daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter—an impressive line of prominent women all named Zina. Their experiences are more than fascinating biography, they are an insightful glimpse into church history.