Live@MTM: Charity Eleson in Conversation with Doug Moe

About the Book: On September 11, 1857, nearly 140 unarmed men, women and children are slaughtered in Mountain Meadows, Utah. Those killed were part of the Fancher wagon train on its way from Arkansas to California. They had stopped in Mountain Meadows to rest their animals before the final trek over the Mojave Desert. After the massacre, Mormon families living and farming in the region rapidly coalesce around a story perpetuated by church leaders that a clan of Paiutes in the region is responsible for the murders. Malachi—a 15-year-old Shoshone boy bought and owned by a local Mormon farmer—knows the truth of what happened, but realizes he can never reveal it if he wishes to live. Concealing that truth becomes increasingly difficult as events spin beyond his control, endangering him and those he loves. He is pushed to the breaking point when his two friends, a Paiute boy and a Mormon girl, imperil their own lives by trying to help him. It is then that he discovers strength he did not believe he had. The Blood of Others is set against the backdrop of true events. It explores the fatal compromises humans make to be accepted, and the courage that the power of love bestows.

About the Author: Charity Eleson lives in the countryside just outside of Madison, Wisconsin with her husband, Steve Feren. She has published two other books, Blessing's Key, Volume I of The Silver Thread and Wayward Home, which received an honorable mention for the 2025 Edna Ferber Fiction Award. She grew up in the Midwest and the West and graduated from the UW-Madison. When she is not writing, she likes to hike, garden, and travel.

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