The Work and the Glory 5: A Season of Joy by Gerald N. Lund

I really enjoyed this book as much as I did the last one. I like how Lund focused a lot on the Steeds and their family drama (is that super shallow of me, that I want to see a lot of the fictional stuff in with the more dry Church history?). I love how this book covers the beginning of Nauvoo and a lot of the missionary work in England. It seems like a peaceful time in Church history--other than the horrible malaria epidemic that swept through their community the first summer they were there. I remember sobbing the first two times I read this book when I was younger when the young Nathan died (I do hate that part). But the story about how Joseph came through healing people is so inspiring and amazing to read afterwards. I love Will's storyline in this book as well, and the cute little love triangle that develops.

My main complaint for this book: I feel like people swing so violently in their emotions in this series. Like Lydia is so sad about losing her child (as she should be), but after a few months in Palmyra, she feels all better and young Nathan is never mentioned again. She doesn't need any more time to heal, she's all good now. Joshua is another example--he went from hating his family to now living with them and being BFFs and working together all the time. It doesn't seem to cause any issues (other than he doesn't want to get baptized or let his wife get baptized). It just seems like it would be more believable if people didn't make such a quick recovery or complete shift in their beliefs and behaviors after one strong experience. But I suppose that would be a much more difficult thing to portray, and Lund has a lot of characters he's writing about.