I went into this book blind, which usually works well for me. Not so much this time.
- Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Author: Noelle Ihli
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Page Count: 383
- Publication Year: 2024
Short Summary (no spoilers)
Three women, connected by one of the most brutal mass slayings in US history. Based on true events, None Left to Tell is the story of the Mountain Meadows Massacre.
My Review:
I picked up None Left to Tell knowing almost nothing about the Mountain Meadows Massacre—and I think that’s part of what made it so powerful. I was Googling the entire time I read, piecing together facts and historical accounts while the author walked me through a fictionalized version of one of the most brutal and heartbreaking events in U.S. history. It reminded me why reading matters: it opens up pieces of the past we were never taught, and forces us to face them.
The story follows three women—Lucy, Katrina, and Sally—whose lives intersect during the buildup to the massacre. Each of them is distinct in voice, circumstance, and motivation, and Noelle W. Ihli does a remarkable job weaving their perspectives together. Their stories unfold in alternating timelines: the weeks and days leading up to the violence, and the massacre itself. This structure builds suspense, but more importantly, it humanizes the tragedy. These aren’t just characters—they’re representations of real women who lived, loved, endured, and, in many cases, died.
The writing is intense, as is the subject matter. Ihli pulls no punches. There’s a long list of content warnings here—violence, child death, coercive control, religious extremism—and this book is not for the faint of heart. It’s disturbing and gut-wrenching. And while it never feels exploitative, it absolutely demands your attention.
What struck me even more than the violence was the aftermath. Ihli includes the fallout, cover-up, and eventual cleanup of the event, including the return of the surviving children to what little family they had left. There is some resolution—but it still left me furious. Furious that this ever happened. And maybe more than that, furious that we live in a world where it’s not impossible to imagine something like this happening again.
There were moments where the pacing dipped for me, which is why I landed on four stars instead of five. But even in those slower chapters, I never considered putting the book down. The complexity of the women’s lives, their belief systems, and their survival instincts kept me rooted in the story.
I also have to mention the author’s afterword. I couldn’t find a version of it to quote here, but it blew me away. Ihli shares her personal history and connection to this event—she is a direct descendant of one of the Mormon men involved in the massacre and its cover-up. That layer of personal reckoning added so much weight to the book and may have been one of the most powerful parts of the entire reading experience.
When I closed the final chapter, I didn’t feel closure—I felt disappointment in humanity. And I think that’s the point. Ihli doesn’t offer easy answers or cast a single villain. She presents layered reasons why this atrocity may have happened, without excusing or justifying any of it. It’s a book that forces you to reckon with what people are capable of when ideology, fear, and power intersect.
I hadn’t even heard of the Mountain Meadows Massacre before reading this, and that’s embarrassing to admit. This book left me gutted—and thinking about how easily devastating, morally complex events can be buried or excused. Highly recommend for readers who appreciate intense historical fiction and stories that refuse to look away.
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