2017 Reprint of 1912 Edition. This Novel was significant for its role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre and is considered one of most popular western novels in American fiction. Arguably Zane Grey’s most popular novel and a forerunner of the western genre, Riders of the Purple Sage tells the story of a Mormon woman caught between the persecution of religious zealots and several “Gentile” gunmen seeking to lend her a helping hand. Set in Utah during the nineteenth century, this novel offers an early critique on the practice of polygamy and plural marriage in the Old West.