Sunday, February 17, 2013

True Sisters by Sandra Dallas

Sandra Dallas writes stories that touch the heart of the reader.  True Sisters is a story that will stick with me for a long time.  Not only did it touch my heart, but it made me angry, and caused me to think about how lucky we are to live in this period of time.

True Sisters is the tale of four women who found themselves on a 1300 mile trek across the United States to get to the Promised Land.  They were promised this land by Mormon missionaries who traveled to England and Scotland to convert people and get them to join the LDS church.  The families gave up everything to travel to Utah, including most of their money and in return they were given a two wheeled hand cart which they had to pull and push the whole way and if they resisted they were taunted and called unbelievers, unworthy of a place in God's Kingdom..

Based on the true story of the Martin Company, a group who arrived in America a little too late in the year to start the trek, then found that the handcarts were not built, the wood was green, and provisions were a bit sparse. They also were told they only were allowed a small amount of personal provisions and had to dispose of many of their treasures they had brought from home.

The Mormon men, for the most part, disgusted me.  However, it's possible that part of my disgust is coming from a person who grew up in the 1960s. 

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