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Reviewed by:
  • Keep Sweet
  • Deborah Stevenson
Greene, Michele Dominguez. Keep Sweet. Simon Pulse, 2010 [224p]. ISBN 978-1-4169-8681-2 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-10

The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints compound in rural Utah has been all that Alva Jane has ever known, and she's found little to question in her existence there: she's the daughter of her father's fourth and most beloved wife, and as such she's been doted on. Now that she's fourteen, she looks forward with excitement to the prospect of marrying soon herself; she's certain that she'll be matched with handsome Joseph John, who's equally keen on Alva Jane, and be an honored first and legal wife. Much to her horror, fate and internal politicking take that dream away from her as Joseph John is cast out of the compound and she's hastily assigned as sixth wife to an abusive middle-aged elder. The plot is fairly predictable, having long been a stalwart in narratives about polygamist groups, and the ending is abrupt and unsatisfying; unlike Hrdlitschka's Sister Wife (BCCB 12/08), this is a portrayal that allows no suggestion of reasonable satisfaction or altruistic devotion. Given that, though, it's rather enjoyable as a gothic, with women locked in basements, conniving in elaborate plots to secure their status, and sacrificing their children if it helps their standing, while our virtuous heroine struggles to escape the group's clutches. Real elements of FLDS experience, such as the Lost Boys (the young men ejected from the compound and the fold largely because they're a threat to the powerful older men), add contemporary authenticity. While this is too much of a pure condemnation to be much of a viewpoint-expander, it may nonetheless get some readers thinking about what-ifs, and they may simply relish the peek over the wall into a lifestyle very different from their own.

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