We chat with author Linda Hamilton about The Fourth Wife, which is a deliciously chilling, darkly romantic, historical gothic horror with a feminist slant, as a young Mormon woman is haunted by a malevolent presence in the decrepit Salt Lake City mansion she shares with her new husband and his other wives…
Hi, Linda! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m an author, a history grad student, and a mom to four kids. All my kids (and cats) are named after Beatles songs! I spend most of my time writing (either a book or my master’s thesis), at a workout class, or driving my kids from activity to activity. When I have free time, I love to read, do puzzles, and hang with my family. I do a lot of book recommendations on my social media to connect with other readers too.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
As a kid, I fell in love with reading and history through books like American Girl and Dear America. I knew I wanted to be a writer in 3rd grade and used to write short stories. I shelved that dream in college because I felt so much pressure get married and become a mom like I’d been trained to do my entire life. I didn’t think a good Mormon woman should have a career. After a breakdown with newborn baby #3, I finally accepted the truth that I’d been repressing from myself—that I hated being a tradwife and needed to climb out of the cage I locked myself in. I started with a home business, which grew to be rather successful. That experience regrew my confidence in myself and my sense of identity and purpose. I knew it was time to write again and go for those big dreams I’d harboring since I was a girl.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Honestly, the Book of Mormon. My family would read it every day.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Belle Prater’s Boy by Ruth White
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Your debut novel, The Fourth Wife, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Mormon polygamist wives being haunted
What can readers expect?
Readers can expect both historical fiction and classic Gothic tropes. This story is a horror, but not too gory or terrifying. It’s more claustrophobic and unsettling. In classic Gothic fashion, the crumbling house itself is a character that feels sentient. So if you aren’t a hardcore horror reader, don’t worry—If this book keeps you up at night, it probably won’t be for its terrors but for the deep questions it unveils.
The Fourth Wife is an exploration of historical Mormon polygamy and a wider critique of any oppressive patriarchal system that seeks to confine women and use them as objects for men. It’s feminist and full of female rage.
Where did the inspiration for The Fourth Wife come from?
I was born and raised Mormon. The LDS church defined my entire identity for decades. I wanted to explore my own ancestors’ lives by writing a historical fiction about polygamy. But I quickly discovered through research that the rosy, faith-promoting story about polygamy that I’d been told my whole life was a lie. It was an oppressive, patriarchal system filled with poverty, misery, jealousies, divorce, abandonments, and also joy, faith, courage, and independence. This strange, contradictory at times practice ultimately objectified and exploited women even as women themselves defended it. I realized then my book wasn’t purely a historical, it was a horror.
I wanted to give a voice to women like my own ancestors Mary and Sara Russon, who were both married to same man as biological sisters. I needed to purge some of the generational trauma I felt as a modern Mormon women from the overshadowing doctrine of polygamy that continues to infest Mormonism, even if the mainstream LDS church no longer practices it in daily life. The Fourth Wife became a way for me to free myself from the grip of Mormonism’s patriarchy.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I absolutely love Abigail! She’s mercurial and hard to pin down from scene to scene. When we first meet her, she’s the first wife of the Manwaring family and has basically checked out. She loves to say the unspoken things out loud to get a reaction from the other wives, and especially her husband. You never know what she’ll say or do next.
I also really enjoyed writing what I call the “ivy” scene, named after Taylor Swift’s song. The main character, the man she loves, and her husband are all trapped in a room at the same time, tip-toeing around the reality they all know exists beneath the surface. It’s passive aggressive yet so tension-filled.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Some parts were simply too real and raw for me as a deconstructing Mormon woman. I would scream and cry in front of my computer screen because so much of my own pain and experiences are infused in the sister wives. I knew I had to keep going and write my way through. It was cathartic, honestly, to release these emotions onto the page and into the world. Now as early readers reach to me I’m so glad I pushed through and let myself and my characters say the hard things out loud. I’ve received many messages from women who have felt similar. You don’t have to have been raised in a fundamentalist religion to feel the sting of oppression.
This is your debut novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It feels like it’s been so long! I wrote the first novel I would query in 2020. The Fourth Wife is actually the third novel I queried and I did not get an offer from an agent until after I’d sent almost 200 queries. I was about to shelve it actually and was prepping a fourth novel to go out. I’m so grateful to my amazing agent, Rach Crawford, who saw the potential in my Gothic story and took me on. We spent another year in edits, getting it just right. Submission rejections were hard to hear but thankfully it only took a couple months to get an offer from Kensington. I absolutely adore my editor, Elizabeth Trout, and the entire team at Kensington! They’ve pushed my book and given me so much to succeed. Six years from when I first started taking my lifelong dream seriously, I get to hold my debut book in my hands.
What’s next for you?
I’m super excited for my next project, which I’m currently completing edits on for publication next year. It’s another historical fiction set in the world of Mormonism but less horror and more speculative, witchy vibes. Did you know that folk Christians in the early 19th century believed there was treasure buried in upper state New York from pirates and Spanish conquistadors? One could obtain it by using a magic seer stone to find it and performing the correct rituals. My next book features a real woman and reported female seer named Sally Chase, her hunt for buried treasure, and her rivalry with her once-student Joseph Smith, the future founder of Mormonism. This book has more adventure, romance, and strong female energy. Stay tuned for more details on my social media soon about The Glass Looker!
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
I just read an early copy of what I think will be in my top three reads of the year (maybe all time), Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. I also had the privilege of reading an early copy of Saint Delilah by Isabelle Spotts, which lovers of true crime and magic will adore. Next up on my list to read is The Gravewood by Kelly Andrew and The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden. Because I’m a major history nerd, I’m also really looking forward to reading Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory by John Garrison Mark and A Resistance History of the United States by Tad Stoermer.
