The Giant Joshua — (1976) — by Maurine Whipple — Hardbound with Dust Jacket

The Giant Joshua

By Maurine Whipple

Published: 1976

Good condition, thick, hardcover with a dust jacket.  The dust jacket has color fading, scuff marks, scratches, there are tears along the edges.  The fly leaf has some pencil marks, and an old signature written in ink.  Text throughout is clean, clear, and legible. Good but not perfect.

The Giant Joshua (1941) is a historical novel by Maurine Whipple set in 19th-century southern Utah. The novel centers on Clory MacIntyre, a young plural wife struggling within a rigid frontier Mormon community in St. George. Through Clory’s experiences, Whipple explores themes of polygamy, sacrifice, faith, repression, gender roles, and the tension between individual desire and religious duty.

The title refers symbolically to the towering cottonwood tree (“the Giant Joshua”) planted in the desert settlement, representing endurance, authority, and the imposing structure of the community itself. Whipple’s portrayal of pioneer life is vivid and often unflinching, presenting both the harshness of the desert environment and the emotional cost of plural marriage.

Upon publication, the novel drew significant attention because of its candid treatment of polygamy and Mormon culture. Some readers praised its literary quality and psychological depth, while others felt it presented an overly critical or somber depiction of Latter-day Saint history. Today, The Giant Joshua is regarded as one of the most notable early literary portrayals of Mormon pioneer life and remains an important work in Western American and Mormon literature.