Bookish Thoughts: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

If I was going to kill the Prophet," I say, not even keeping my voice low, I'd do it in Africa."  
~ Opening of The Chosen One

The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams

St. Martin's Griffin, 2009

Fiction (YA); 213

Polygamy and cults have long been an interest of mine. I had a college professor who used to talk about his days studying cults, observing them up close and from a distance, helping former members recover once they got out. A few years ago I read just about everything I could get my hands on that dealt with cults and fundamentalism. Somehow, The Chosen One didn't make it onto my radar. I was quite excited at the opportunity to read it now that it had.

This is the story of 13-year-old Kyra who is one of the Chosen Ones, chosen to marry her much older uncle who is an Apostle of the polygamist sect her family belongs to. Krya has never been the most faithful in her family, sneaking off to read forbidden books or just to be alone . . . and then there's the boy she likes. The last thing she wants to do is marry her uncle, who already has six wives. Not to marry him means certain punishment not just for her, but for her family as well. Kyra loves her family dearly and must decide whether to stay or try to escape the only life she's ever known.

The Chosen One is a heartbreaking story. I have read similar stories about groups of people living together in a closed community, shut off from the modern world which they view is full of sin and the temptations of the devil. Polygamy is a way of life, girls being married off to older men, sometimes their own close relatives, while teenage boys are sent packing--a very real phenomenon called the Lost Boys. It is no different in Kyra's community. The rules are strict, and what the leader, the Prophet, says is law. 

Kyra's own family is quite large. She's lived a relatively happy life. Her father and mothers are kind to her. She looks after her younger siblings. Kyra is easy to like--and easy to relate to. She is smart and very independent minded. It makes living in a community that values obedience above all else a bit difficult for her, however. She often wanders outside the gates of their community despite being told it is forbidden. She takes advantage of a book mobile that drives by now and then, relishing every opportunity she can to read books, books other than the Bible, which is the only book she is supposed to read. As many of us know, books open doors and windows into new ways of thinking. They expose us to the world outside our own lives. To someone like the Prophet, they are dangerous. To someone like Kyra, they are empowering. 

As I mentioned before, it was impossible not to like Kyra and to root for her as the novel progressed. I soon was engrossed in Krya's life and story. The author does a good job of getting us in Kyra's head and understanding what she is going through. She is in a difficult position. Everything in me screamed, "Run away!" But I also realized that it wasn't so simple a decision for her to make given the circumstances, including what it might mean for the family she would be leaving behind.

This is one of those books that sort of crept up on me. I wasn't too sure about the writing style, given the novel is narrated by a rather naive 13-year-old with limited experience. It reads like the Young Adult novel it is. While the writing style may give the impression this is a book on the lighter side, it deals with serious issues. There are some violent and difficult scenes to read; one in particular, involving a young child, had me wanting to throw the book across the room because I was so mad. 

The Chosen One was an emotional read, but one that I think is very important. While this story is fictional, there are groups like this out there. I still find myself thinking about Kyra and her sister Laura, wondering how each are faring. This is definitely a book I recommend reading.

To learn more about Carol Lynch Williams and her books, please visit the author's website. You can also find the author on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Source: Many thanks to Rebecca Taylor of I'm Lost in Books for sharing this book with me through our postal bookclub! 

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