Generally accepted as a groundbreaking biography, the book places Emma Smith into a context that has better explained the trials and sacrifices of the members of the early Latter Day Saint church.

[1] Avery and Newell provided the following note in the book's introduction: Early leaders in Utah castigated Emma from their pulpits for opposing Brigham Young and the practice of polygamy, and for lending support to the Reorganization.

As these attitudes filtered down through the years, Emma was virtually written out of official Utah histories.

[3] In the preface to the second edition of the book, the authors wrote: "After a ten-months stalemate Linda Newell successfully petitioned church leaders to reconsider the prohibition.

Yet the fact that the lifting of that ban was not reported by the church-owned newspaper Deseret News led them to say that it "gave the unmistakable message to faithful church members that both the book and its authors were still suspect."