Broadway to campaign trail: Mormon is the buzz.

• Position: Religion

For a religion many Americans still describe as "cultish" and "secretive," the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has gained a lot of mainstream clout in the past couple of years.

On Broadway, the irreverent musical satire, "The Book of Mormon," was the hands-down favorite of 2011, winning nine Tony Awards. On television, "Big Love," a fictional HBO series about a Mormon polygamist, recently ended a five-year run. On the GOP presidential campaign trail, Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman both are Mormons with deep roots in the 181-year-old church.

Los Angeles attorney Robert P. DesJardins studied the religion and its history for his newest novel, Land of the Saints. He found a history that provided him not only with plenty of mystery and intrigue for his fiction, but gave him insights into the religion's role in contemporary society:

* Former governors Romney and Huntsman share a common ancestor: Parley Pratt. An original apostle of the church founded in 1830 by Joseph Smith, Pratt is Romney's great-great grandfather and Huntsman's great-great-great grandfather. Pratt had 12 wives in the years before polygamy was banned by the church in 1890. (Current members practicing plural marriage are excommunicated.) Pratt was killed in 1857 by the estranged husband of a woman with whom he had become involved.

* Romney and Huntsman are not the first church members to run for president Joseph Smith began his run for the White House on Jan. 29, 1844. It ended with his assassination on June 27.

* The church's growth, contrary to popular belief, has slowed dramatically From 1974 to 1994, it was said to be the fastest-growing American-made religion, but the numbers started dropping in 1999. There now are about 14,000,000 Mormons worldwide and they comprise two percent of the U.S. population.

* One issue that surfaces in heavily evangelical Christian states such as Iowa and South Carolina is whether Mormons are Christians. "Mormons...