The year is 1837, Mormon missionaries form a beachhead in Preston England where blacksmith Thomas Arkwright and his spinster daughter Elena are converted. An ocean and half a continent away, Southern attorney Kevil Pape is sentenced to the Missouri State Prison (the Walls), where he meets Dr. Tobias Mercer, a Mormon leader. The Arkwrights "gather" to Nauvoo, Illinois. Pape and Mercer escape the Walls. Pape is hired to assassinate the former governor of Missouri (Lilburn Boggs) and retreats to Nauvoo. Kevil and Elena begin a courtship that twists into depravity and abuse. Radical questions regarding love, faith, marriage, and the depth of evil arise against the background of the first years of Nauvoo, center of the fledgling Mormon religion. With impeccable historical accuracy and urgent writing, John Hutchinson delivers a deeply satisfying read.
John Hutchinson is a retired college professor and administrator. He lives in southwest Missouri.