The Glovemaker, by Ann Weisgarber (2019)
This is a beautiful novel about a small Mormon town in the late 1880s. There are only a few families in the town of Junction. The was built by families who were Mormon; but wanted to separate themselves from plural marriages. Polygamy has been outlawed, however, some Mormons continued the practice. Law enforcement officers would seek out families where there were multiple wives. Thus, men with multiple wives would sometimes travel through Junction on their way to Floral Ranch, a hard to find place in the wastelands of Utah to hide from the law.
The novel focuses on Deborah, a glovemaker. Her husband, Samuel, is a wheelwright who travels several months of the year. He was due home in December, but by mid-January has not returned home. It is a hard winter with many snowstorms so Deborah is alone. Her house is on the edge of town, the first one that a visitor would encounter when entering Junction.
One day a stranger knocks on Deborah’s door. It is odd for someone to be seeking refuge in Floral Ranch in the middle of winter, but Deborah allows the man to spend the night in her barn and the next morning, her neighbor Nels, agrees to lead the stranger to Floral Ranch.
Soon, a deputy from Tennessee is at Deborah’s door looking for the stranger. His appearance in the town has ramifications that will impact the entire community.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre, which had happened about 30 years before the events of this novel, foreshadows the events of this book. I had never heard of this massacre, but in 1857, between 120 and 140 members of a wagon train were killed in southern Utah. Only 17 children survived the massacre. The massacre was perpetrated by Mormons, but the Paiute Native Americans were initially used as scapegoats. The novel explains the Massacre, so one need not have a full understanding of it to appreciate its significance.
Read: June 8, 2021
5 Stars
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