Book # 28

Before The Dawn

By Dean Hughes

Yep, another Dean Hughes book. I like his books. This one caught my attention because the main character is a bitter, grumpy widow of about 10 years. Reminds me of someone, ha ha... I am going on 8 years and if I keep feeling like I am, I will be just as grumpy and bitter.

Her name is Leah Sorenson and she is called to be the Relief Society president in 1932, just as the great depression is being felt throughout the United States. She lives in a small town in the Uintah basin of Utah, she has a teenage son and daughter, works their farm on her own, and is isolated, anti-social and bitter at the hand life has dealt her. When the bishop calls her to the position, she turns him down, knowing that the ladies will be shocked and un-accepting of her as their leader. But he tells her to pray about it because the call is from the Lord and that she is uniquely equipped to help the women in the ward at this time of economic trouble. She has a dream that night that she will accept the call and there is a woman in the dream that she knows that she will be able to help in her calling, but when she wakes up she cant remember who it is. So she accepts, and when she is announced as the new Relief Society President in Sacrament meeting on Sunday, there is a loud gasp from the congregation, which humiliates her, even though she knew it would happen. She ends up calling an 80 year old woman that she likes, a "snooty" town woman who wanted the position as president for herself, and a young mother to be her counselors and secretary. The story continues as she begins to help the women and families in the ward through their challenges. Every time she helps someone, she wonders if that was the person in her dream. Some she helps with her particular toughness, and others she angers and offends. She has struggles with her daughter, who is embarrassed by their poverty. She has difficulty relating to the women that she has isolated herself from and has judged harshly all these years. She struggles with her pride and her quick and sharp tongue. She helps several families with some insurance money that she has been saving for her childrens' college education but then is devastated when she loses the rest of it when the town bank closes. But by the end of the story, things are going well and the calling has refined her. And she finds out who the person was in her dream. It was a good story.

Until Next Time ;o)