The Glovemaker

The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber When I reached a certain age my mother told me I must have beautiful leather gloves and she purchased them for me in black, navy and white...along with some driving gloves. As I read this book I thought about what it might be like to make gloves from scratch using leather tanned by my father keeping a book with measurements, snippets of leather and threads with people’s names beside them. My daughter now how my leather gloves and they are going strong. A good pair of gloves, no doubt, would be worn by the recipient and, if given by someone they knew, cherished forever. The gloves Deborah made were custom-bespoke and sometimes embellished. And, though Deborah’s life was not filled with frills I do believe she found beauty not only around her but in the gloves she made. So, what is this story about? It is about an interesting time in Utah and about a small breakaway group of Mormons who moved to Junction where most of them did not participate in plural marriages and all seemed to want a bit of distance from organized religion as they knew it. They still considered themselves “Saints” but a bit to the side rather than immersed in all of the traditions. The group was small with only about six to eight families living in the same area. A small number of the group assisted “Saints” on the run from the US Government out to catch polygamist. And, into this group comes trouble. How they deal with the trouble and how it impacts each of them is part of the story. The blurb pretty much tells what the story is about but it is so much more than the blurb. I have to say I learned from this book a part of history I was unaware of. I had known parts of the history of the Mormons but had not heard of some of the events mentioned in this book. I also have to say that I could truly enjoyed getting to know the characters and empathized with them as they made the decisions they did. At this point I feel I need to let this story simmer within for a bit and then take it out to look at again. I would like to think that those who remain in Junction will be happy and since Deborah seems to be a woman with both feet firmly planted on the ground I do see her moving forward and finding a way to be content in the future...at least I hope she will...and hope she will not be alone as she makes gloves for those she loves. Thank you to NetGalley and Skyhorse Publishing for the ARC – This is my honest review. 5 Stars