The Glovemaker:A Novel 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.

Samuel 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 incidents alive, but also vividly describes Deborah’s emotions: her unwavering love for her husband, her fears, and her determination to do the right thing.