LiterariLeigh

"According to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) historical records, Brigham Young was sealed to as many as 56 women. Many of the wives to whom Young were sealed were widows or elderly women for whom he merely cared or gave the protection of his name.

When asked by Horace Greeley in 1859, Brigham Young said that he had 15 wives, "but some of those sealed to me are old ladies whom I regard rather as mothers than wives. . ." This answer reflects the complicated nature in the definition of "plural wife." As to the number of wives with whom it is known that he had conjugal relations, sixteen wives bore him 57 children (46 of whom grew to maturity)."
~from Utah History to Go: The Wives of Brigham Young

The book The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff interweaves stories of historical and modern day polygamy from the perspectives of those who are affected by it. One narrative is about Ann Eliza Young, how she becomes the 19th (at least) wife of Brigham Young, divorces him several years later, and goes on to lecture and write about the disgrace of polygamy. The other story follows Jordan, a young man thrown out of his family and the Firsts (a fundamentalist Mormon group) as a teen, and who returns to exonerate his mother from the charge of murdering his father. And his mother was also a 19th wife. Although fictional, the story is abundant with historic details and interestingly told from a variety of narrators with differing views and opinions.