The Chosen One
Carol Lynch Williams
St. Martin's, May 12 2009, $16.95
ISBN: 9780312555115
In the Chosen Ones compound, the leader Prophet Childs, accompanied by three apostles, visits the trailer home of the extended Carlson family to provide them with a treasured gift. He informs the patriarch, his three wives and twenty-one children that thirteen year old Kyra will become the seventh wife of her Uncle Hyrum; her father’s brother who is sixty years old.
Her father and biological mother are stunned by the “good” news. They understand why the oldest offspring is unacceptable for an important apostle like his sibling, but cannot fathom an elderly uncle making his teen niece pregnant. Kyra is even more horrified as she has been reading banned books from the library on wheels that have made her question the polygamist Commandments of the Chosen Ones. As their enforcers the God Squad goons insure everyone behaves through excess force, abuse and murder, Kyra wonders how she can escape this atrocity that feels like a rape of her soul and soon her body without causing her family repercussive atrocities.
This is an exciting young adult drama as Kyra’s fears (for herself and her family) feel real and propel the story line. Character driven, readers will obtain a deep look at a sect whose dogma controls every aspect of life for the flock. Although somewhat over-killed to the extreme, as the elders ignore “Thou shall not kill by murdering parishioners, fans will enjoy this timely read as Carole Lynch Williams defines what it means to bestowed with the honor of being THE CHOSEN ONE while given no other choices.
Harriet Klausner
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