The fact that women are scarcely mentioned in the Book of Mormon has not stopped a Utah County member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from writing a 100-page book about the contributions these women made to the scriptures and the lives of the prophets and people who are mentioned.
"Women of the Book of Mormon: Insights & Inspirations" (Covenant Books, $15.99) by Heather B. Moore explores the lives of women who made sacrifices, endured hardships and put their faith in the Lord during uncertain times.
"Only six women are mentioned by name in the Book of Mormon," states a news release about the new book. "But those six had a great impact in the lives of many scripture heroes."
In this book, Moore discusses the six women mentioned specifically by name (Sariah, Eve, Mary, Sarah, Abish and Isabel) as well as other women who are referred to in the Book of Mormon. Moore outlines stories of these women and gives insights to the time period in which they lived.
Among the chapters about women who were not mentioned by name are those on the wife of Mormon and the queen of King Lamoni.
Moore said she talks about what it would have been like to be a military wife in the days of Mormon.
"She was really facing her own battles," Moore said. "As her husband was out fighting a physical war, she was home fighting a spiritual battle."
Moore said she found a statement by Ammon about the queen of King Lamoni one of the most remarkable things in her research.
"He said he had never seen such faith among all the Nephites as he saw in the queen," she said.
Explaining that Ammon was a son of Mosiah, who had no doubt witnessed great works of faith in his lifetime, Moore said she was struck by his naming this woman's faith as the most profound.
"Yet he recognizes the faith and the purity of this woman," she said.
But not all the stories in Moore's book are positive.
One chapter is based on the daughter of Jared, whose secret actions led to the death of her grandfather.
"We can always learn from other people's experiences and mistakes," Moore said.
She said the project came about after researching for previous book projects.
"I learned so much about the women as I wrote my other books, that I wanted to share this knowledge with others," she said. "I searched for books written on the women and could only find a handful of articles. Like many people, I wanted to know what it was like to be a woman living in Ancient Israel or Mesoamerica."
According to Moore's biography, she is the award-winning author of a Book of Mormon historical series titled "Out of Jerusalem."
Following that series was a novel on Abinadi, which won both the 2008 Whitney Award for Best Historical Novel and the 2009 Best of State in Literary Arts award.
The sequel to Abinadi, Alma, was released last year. Alma the Younger is expected to come out this year. All of these fiction novels are written under Moore's pen name, H.B. Moore.
Moore said she purposely waited to release this book, her first non-fiction work, after she had established herself as a reputable writer.
"I wanted a platform," she said.
But Moore said she found this book to be her most difficult endeavor.
"When you are writing religious material, every sentence and every paragraph has to be supported," she said, noting that all her sources are outlined at the conclusion of her book.
"I found it was a much bigger project than I had thought," she said.
While her novels each have taken her about five months to write from start to finish, Moore said this project took her a full year to complete even though she had already compiled research for the project during the writing of her novels.
Interested readers may contact Moore through her website, www.hbmoore.com.
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