Now this was an unexpected surprise. It is late 1880s, middle of winter in the bleak, empty, tough environment of Utah. In a small community of 6 or 7 families who have relocated themselves from the strict dictatorial polygamy communities of their fellow Mormons, life is very self-sufficient and self-reliant, slow, quiet and at times dangerous. Deborah is a glove maker, living with her husband Samuel who is a wheel wright. Samuel is late back from his autumn travels repairing wheels for communities and towns south of where they live. Their neighbour is Samuel’s oldest friend Nels. Polgamy has been outlawed by the non-Mormon majority population, resulting in men turning up from time to time escaping the authorities for their polygamy, drawing Nels and others into helping them escape over the surrounding mountains. Although the community is generally non-practising, it seems they are more distrustful of non-Mormons than their polygamy fellow Mormons. Things change dramatically one night when a man on the run turns up, chased by a US Marshall. There are elements of the man’s story which don’t add up, then when the Marshall himself is badly injured, Deborah and Nels have to face some tough decisions, all with bad consequences, leading them to rethink their beliefs, their connections, and what they are really doing in this small isolated community. And for Deborah, what on earth has happened to her husband Samuel, long overdue from his regular trip? Such intensity of writing, analysis of the moral and religious dilemma that Nels and Deborah face, such wonderful and haunting descriptions of the bleak, hostile mountainous and wintery setting. Gloves are mentioned frequently, symbolically as items essential to living in these parts, and as meaningful gifts. But with Deborah being a glove maker, I still have no idea how gloves were made during these times.
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