Brighter and Brighter Until the Perfect Day
by Sharlee Mullins Glenn
In soaring blank verse, Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day reimagines the entire scope of existence from premortal life through the creation, the fall, mortality, the Atonement, and beyond. This gorgeous epic poem blends theology (including the cherished Latter-day Saint doctrine of a Heavenly Mother), science, and imagination in a way that is thoroughly engaging and provocative.
Referring to Orson F. Whitney's prediction that Latter-day Saints would "yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own," scholar and writer Michael Austin writes that "the wait may well be over. Sharlee Mulllins Glenn, with her remarkable new epic, comes closer than any poet ever has to being a Milton of our own."
“This breathtaking epic poem expands the heart beyond the small stories we tell about God and existence itself. Rooted in Latter-day Saint theology, it feels both familiar and profoundly new. It creates an exhilarating spaciousness for imagining what could be. Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s vision speaks to a deep heart-knowing—gently healing the ache of Mother God’s quiet absence and restoring the sense of her intimate and infinite love at work in our lives.”
—Aubrey Chaves, co-host of the Faith Matters podcast.
“Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s epic poem Brighter and Brighter is a masterpiece—epic in all the senses of the word. Like its Homeric and Miltonian predecessors, it pursues the relations between Gods and humans with delicious and well-wrought blank verse in iambic pentameter. Glenn uses the form to capture the depth and drama and power and meaning of one of our most treasured Latter-day Saint foundational stories. But here’s the thing. It is so original. Creative. And draws on so many gorgeous ideas. She uses the poetic form with skill and adroit beauty—and the work opens new possibilities for theology by exploring the Divine Feminine with the depth and standing it deserves. She unlocks our canon to present meaningful female participation and gives them presence and voice—creating a cast of women protagonists equal in power and influence with the male figures we know so well from other tellings. I also love the work for its exploring the creation with references to science, evolution, and even quantum mechanics, tying ancient concepts with modern sensibilities.
But let me offer a warning. I kept finding my eyes watering as I read. A lot. Keep tissues nearby. There is beauty in the language, insight in the way it unfolds new redemptive narratives about the Preexistence, the Creation, and the Fall. Glenn offers vibrant speculation and opens a revelatory enlargement to doctrines recognizing that there were other actors in these earth-veiled events.
Read this book. The form demands we read it out loud. Voice it together with friends and loved ones. Perform it in book groups. Read it around campfires with the youth. One thing I feel pretty certain about is that this will become a classic of our people’s poetic theological narratives. In my mind, it already is.”
—Steven L. Peck, biologist, poet, novelist; author of A Short Stay in Hell, Evolving Faith, Heike’s Void.
“A beautiful invitation to see something very old in a very new way. This story invites us into new layers of thought, of words, of completion. Bringing the Mother back into the Motherless House of this world is a powerful contribution. Thank you, Sharlee, for accepting the call to be a visionary.”
—Carol Lynn Pearson, author of Finding Mother God and Mother Wove the Morning.
“What were women doing during the great premortal council in heaven? Did Eve have another name before her birth and after her death, the way Adam is also Michael? Sharlee Mullins Glenn sees these gaps in scripture, and approaches God with the offering of her own religious imagination. In the rhythmic flow of poetry, she finds a space to search for her foremothers. We may not have answers to Sharlee's questions, but she gives us the gift of a holy wonder about how things might have been—and in questions of faith, sometimes that wonder is enough.”
—James Goldberg, author of Let Me Drown with Moses and Tales of the Chelm First Ward
“Sharlee Mullins Glenn has re-imagined the plan of salvation in fascinating ways. I deeply appreciate the expansive consideration of how our Mother in Heaven could have reigned with such luminous love. Read on!”
—McArthur Krishna, author of the Girls and Boys Guide to Heavenly Mother, Cherish, Study Guide to Heavenly Mother, and more
“Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s new epic poem Brighter and Brighter until the Perfect Day is an important new addition to the body of Latter-day Saint literature. The story of creation is told in blank verse that almost compels the reader to keep reading. The account’s originality and depth also engage the reader profoundly. The characters are complex and interesting, and have names. There are also surprises that I will leave readers to learn for themselves in their own reading. I will have this book in my library as soon as it is published!”
—Susan Elizabeth Howe, author of Stone Spirits, Salt, and Infinite Disguises.
“Sharlee Mullins Glenn’s epic poem is an ambitious and beautiful rendering of Latter-day Saint beliefs and yearnings regarding the feminine divine, the ethos of existence, and the centrality of agency, relationships, and love.”
—Fiona Givens, co-author of The God Who Weeps, The Crucible of Doubt, The Christ Who Heals, and All Things New
Sharlee Mullins Glenn has published poetry, essays, short stories, articles, and criticism in periodicals as varied as Women's Studies, The Southern Literary Journal, Segullah, BYU Studies Quarterly, Ladybug, and The New York Times. She is also an award-winning author of children's books, publishing with G. P. Putnam’s Sons, Harcourt, and Abrams, and a contributing editor for Wayfare. Sharlee is the recipient of the Dolly Gray Children’s Literature Award for Keeping Up with Roo (Putnam) and the Norman A. Sugarman Children’s Biography Honor Award for Library on Wheels: Mary LemistTitcomb and America’s First Bookmobile (Abrams).