WHERE NOTHING IS LONG AGO: Memories of a Mormon Childhood

In these ten evocative tales a skillful writer recreates her childhood--really only moderately Mormon--in a mountain town in Utah. A shocking murder proked by the unusual crime of ""water-stealing""; the birth of a baby sister and the subsequent death of a friend appreciated too late; the last day of the war, and thoughts of a young neighbor who would not return from it; the brief visit of a southern Negro and the town's unjust suspicions of him; and the heroine-author's first encounter with love are a few of the incidents. The local color ranges from striking to dazzling, with the cool, majestic mountains serving as backdrop, the dry heat of summer shimmering always in the foreground. The stories are affectionately old, and if their appeal relies more on nostalgia than on narrative, they are nonetheless pleasant reading. A nice book for a lazy afternoon.