As part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — we’re featuring staff picks from book stores across the state. >> Click here for more SunLit — COLORADO SUN
Poor Richard’s Books & Gifts, 320 N. Tejon St., Colorado Springs — poorrichardsdowntown.com
From Jeffery Payne, Book Department Coordinator: Sally Denton does a remarkable job sorting through vast, overwhelming and endless events to present a true-life telling and, the unsettling back story, of the horrific deaths of nine members of a Mormon sect in Mexico. With vivid attention to details, the reader learns of the complicated and long history of the LeBaron clan. We witness how the tenuous uneasy relationship between the residents of Colonia LeBaron, the surrounding Mexican drug cartels and the local population unravels which results in mistrust and more death. The pure ungodly violence that the members of the community put upon one another in the name of grace is astounding. This is a crime family hidden behind the cloak of “godliness.”
This book gives us insight into the harsh realities of fundamental Mormons and their treatment of women. We get just a glimpse of the complexities and workings of plural marriages and for this reason we admire the strength and courage of these people. It’s a complicated story, there are heroes and villains, sometimes they are the same person.