Finalist for the Western Writers of America’s 2020 Spur Awards for Historical Novel Finalist for the 2019 Association for Mormon Letters Awards for Novel “Compelling historical fiction…. Part love story, part religious explication, part mystery….A journey you won’t forget.”—Houston ChronicleIn the inhospitable lands of the Utah Territory, during the winter of 1888, thirty-seven-year-old Deborah … Utah Territory, during the winter of 1888, thirty-seven-year-old Deborah Tyler waits for her husband, Samuel, to return home from his travels as a wheelwright. It is now the depths of winter, Samuel is weeks overdue, and Deborah is getting worried.
Deborah lives in Junction, a tiny town of seven Mormon families scattered along the floor of a canyon, and she earns her living by tending orchards and making work gloves. Isolated by the red-rock cliffs that surround the town, she and her neighbors live apart from the outside world, even regarded with suspicion by the Mormon faithful who question the depth of their belief.
When a desperate stranger who is pursued by a Federal Marshal shows up on her doorstep seeking refuge, it sets in motion a chain of events that will turn her life upside down. The man, a devout Mormon, is on the run from the US government, which has ruled the practice of polygamy to be a felony. Although Deborah is not devout and doesn’t subscribe to polygamy, she is distrustful of non-Mormons with their long tradition of persecuting believers of her wider faith.
But all is not what it seems, and when the Marshal is critically injured, Deborah and her husband’s best friend, Nels Anderson, are faced with life and death decisions that question their faith, humanity, and both of their futures.
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Ann has a gift for wringing the beautiful out of the brutal and the invisible. Once again, she searches out a little known slice of history and exposes the difficulties through the eyes of an extraordinary female character, this time in a bleak winter setting in LDS Utah. The story isn’t a mystery, it’s a drama, and one that left me in quiet contemplation with a strong desire to visit the area…in the summer. Reading Ann’s work is always a treat.
I was surprised to see that no reviews of this novel have been posted yet. At first glance, The Glovemaker might appear similar to other historical fiction novels about women working during an era gone by. In fact, I think the title does not do justice to the novel. The fact that Deborah makes gloves is a minor detail in this unique story.
Instead of a coming-of-age or a love-triangle novel, this book in its own way is a thriller and a page-turner. Once the stranger shows up at Deborah’s remote cabin, the ride begins, and the reader never knows when and where it’s going to twist and turn. The rich and precise writing gives the book a sense of immediacy and deep emotion. The details of Mormon history, culture, and beliefs are fascinating as well.
I paused on a five-star review only because some things–details, feelings, historical facts, etc.–are repeated, sometimes several times. I understand the need for emphasis here and there, but I simply have a preference for books that don’t use this device. It might not bother others at all, and I can still wholeheartedly recommend this unusual novel.
The gloves say it all… This is a slice of American History that most of us have no idea about unless you are Morman, and then, maybe not even then. What does it feel like for Deborah to grow up as a Latter Day Saint, the daughter of the second wife, when her father prefers the company of his new family? What does it do to her faith in everything she was raised to believe?
Ann Weisberger combines the deep questions of faith, religion and spirituality with a thriller and mystery. I can’t remember such a historical story that combines these things, unless it would be MY COUSIN RACHEL which I dearly loved.
The Glovemaker will keep you reading to find out when Deborah’s mssing husband will come home, whether the Latter Day Saint fugitive will escape the law, whether deborah’s faith will withstand the turns of fate she never bargained for.
Congratulations, Ann. Beautiful book. And oh, those gloves really got to me.
The Glovemaker by Ann Weisgarber is a highly suspenseful novel that takes place in Utah Territories during the winter of 1888. The book is a Women Writing the West’s 2020 WILLA Literary Award Winner.
Samual Tyler is past due. He left on a business trip and is late returning home. It’s possible that he’s found other out-of-the way customers. As a wheelwright his services are in high demand.
Deborah Tyler is worried about her husband, but common sense tells her that delays are not only possible, but likely. It’s the dead of winter and travel is hard—anything can happen. Deborah adds to the family income by helping her husband in their orchard, and she also makes fine leather gloves. But now all she can think about is her husband’s safety.
The Tylers and seven other families live in Junction, a small Mormon community with homesites scattered along the floor of a canyon. Junction’s citizens don’t believe in plural marriage and have splintered off from other Utah Mormons.
A desperate stranger pursued by a Federal Marshall appears at Deborah’s door asking for shelter for the night. She’s hesitant, but doesn’t feel right about turning him away. She offers the use of her barn for the man and his horse. As she dreads, a Marshal comes in search of the man, catching Deborah in the web of a spiraling chain of events. She learns the man she sheltered is a polygamist and is on the run from the U.S. government, which has ruled the practice of polygamy a felony.
When the Marshal is critically injured, Nels Anderson, Deborah and Samual’s close friend, also becomes involved in the deceit. In trying to do the right thing, they hide crucial evidence.
The Glovemaker is a well-written and thoroughly-documented novel. The village of Junction did exist and its citizens were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints (LDS). The citizens of Junction didn’t conform to the typical LDS beliefs and practices. References are made to the Mormons being driven from one state after another, often burned out of their homes. The incident at Mountain Meadows where Mormon militia in southern Utah seized a wagon train from Arkansas and brutally murdered 120 people was still viewed with bitterness and troubled both the attackers and victims. Strong feelings prevailed and hiding a Mormon polygamist was a serious crime. The Glovemaker brings these incidences alive, but also vividly describes Deborah’s emotions: her unwavering love for her husband, her fears, and her determination to do the right thing.
In Utah in the late 1880s, a stranger threatens to shatter an isolated community. A compelling mosaic created from historic details and the nuances of daily frontier life.
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
From the moment I started reading Ann Weisgarber’s latest novel, The Glovemaker, the present slipped away and I became Deborah trying to stay warm in a cabin lit by lanterns in the late 1800s. In a remote area of Utah, surrounded by red cliffs and snow, I waited for my husband Samuel to return home from his usual trek to repair other people’s wagons. Samuel was a wheelwright and he’d never been this late before.
A knock at the door sent my heart skittering.
That’s what good writing does. It pulls you out of the present and drops you smack dab into the story as if you are one of the characters caught up in the drama.
The story is told in first person viewpoint, the chapters alternating between Deborah and her brother-in-law, Nels, a good man who lives alone with his dog Sally in another cabin on the other side of an icy bridge. As a reader, I worried, along with the two main characters, for Samuel to return home.
Add to the waiting and worrying, there’s also the threat from outsiders who judge those living in the tiny community of Junction because of their religion. And sometimes those outsiders take it upon themselves to hunt down men with plural wives.
Although The Glovemaker is historical fiction, the themes make you think about what is going on in today’s world. People make snap judgements about others based on their beliefs. We sometimes don’t trust others who we deem are different.
As humans, we live in those “in-between places” between life and death, belief and unbelief, joy and sorrow, judgement and acceptance. This tender but stark tale forces you to ask yourself what would you do if someone came knocking on your door late at night. Someone running for fear of his or her life because others want you dead or imprisoned because you don’t worship as they do.
A small group of Mormons decide to set roots in a hard-to-reach area of what is now Utah’s Capitol Reef National Park. They went there to put distance between themselves and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They settled and raised families and planted orchards. Life could be simple but as rugged as the elements. What some came to discover was that their remote location also came with a burden that nobody wanted to undertake. Deborah waits for her husband to return home from a months-long work trip and finds herself alone with a strange man knocking at her cabin door asking for help. It’s the dead of winter and she’s got to decide what to do. Doing any favor just makes trouble. The next few days Deborah and her brother-in-law, Nels, find themselves caught in the middle of a dangerous manhunt. Ann Weisgarber stitches the narratives together gracefully, allowing the reader to be in the mind of each main character. I felt their desperation, sadness, and hope, and was not disappointed in the end. Just wish I hadn’t finished it so fast.
Most of the book takes place over three days’ time, which made for a slower pace that was very contemplative. Because this was based on historical accounts, I really enjoyed learning more about a small group of Mormon families in the 1880s who didn’t believe in plural marriage and felt pressure from both the church and the federal government. I always love learning about things I had no idea about, and this certainly fits the bill for that.
It has been some time since I read this book so I don’t remember the characters names. I do remember the story evolves around a young morman woman who makes gloves. Her husband has been away for a long time because of a storm ruining the road. It takes place in the late 1800s. He goes to different villages to shoe horses.and she is left alone to face challenges by herself. Although this is fiction it is very realistic. The Mormans were persecuted for their beliefs, and they are in this book.
Gloves is a small facet of Deborah. This book is a testament to brotherhood, love, faith & trust.
I enjoyed this book. Not much about glove making, but it was an interesting peek into the early Latter Day Saints and their own, internal divisiveness regarding polygamy.
An interesting topic and time in our country’s history that most readers are not privy to. I actually enjoyed the sequence of events and became invested in some of the characters! It makes your world a bit bigger!
I loved the authors style just as I did her other book , the Promise . The easy reading , short sentences enhanced the tale being told . It was to the point and moving on to the next important thought without need for a lot of fillers.
I enjoyed this book and I didn’t expect to. Well written, well researched. I will read it again – the ultimate compliment for a novel.
I enjoyed the historical accounts of late 19th century Mormonism. This was a compelling story with realistic emotions and strong characters.
The characters were believable, the story educational and unique.
Enjoyed learning about life in another era and its hardships.
good read. fact based
Really liked this book…easy read that kept you turning the pages!