House of Mourning

Shanon A. Novak is assistant professor of anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

"Shannon Novak shows us the way that bioarchaeology can combine with history to provide a more complete and accurate story of the past-better than either can do by itself. Her research of the history of the Arkansas emigrants and their roots goes well beyond the efforts of most works of this kind"-George W. Gill, professor emeritus of anthropology, University of Wyoming "By introducing elements of anthropology, geography, and sociology, as well as history, Novak confirms some elements of the historical narrative concerning the Mountain Meadows Massacre while refuting others....House of Mourning will prove to be a valuable addition to the study of the tragic tale of the Mountain Meadows Massacre."-The Journal of Mormon History "Essential reading for anyone interested in the biocultural dynamics of nineteenth-century pioneers. House of Mourning, in fact, should serve as a model for the fine-grained analysis of forensic study and its historical interpretation."-Journal of Anthropological Research "One of the most original, stimulating contributions yet published on this morbid subject. An important, creative, and welcome book. It is required reading for those seriously interested in the victims of this extraordinary wartime atrocity."-Western Historical Quarterly "The deftly and tightly written story is constructed like a Greek tragedy. The victims have an eloquent voice in Shannon A. Novak. I am impresssed by how she connects the history of the bones to the larger events of Mountain Meadows. Much of her research is archival, yielding a study of the Ozarks that gives readers a comprehensive social, economic, cultural picture of the region from which the emigrants embarked....Novak's ability to make her voice that of the victim's honors their memory."-The Journal of American History "Well documented and well researched. Novak presents her story and her data in a scholarly yet engaging style. The massacre at Mountain Meadows is a dark moment in Utah's past. Reading about it is difficult; understanding it is more difficult. Novak brings a unique data set, a different perspective, and, I believe, useful insight into this tragedy."-BYU Studies "The seamless weaving of multiple lines of evidence throughout this book creates a stimulating and provocative insight into the past. Written with the pen of a storyteller and the eye of a social scientist, the book once open is hard to set down."-Current Anthropology "Novak provides a thorough explication of northern Arkansas life patterns and practices and honors those whom she worries have received too little attention in the debates over the massacre."-The Historian