Sister Wife

While polygamy and religious fundamentalism are hot topics for fiction right now, Sister Wife steps outside the box to present the truly compelling story of three different girls from the same polygamist sect.Two sisters and one outsider each speak from their own points of view, and Hrdlitschka weaves their voices seamlessly together for the sort of prose the reader is easily wrapped up in. Celeste will soon be fifteen and assigned a husband, but she has plenty of doubts about the Movement, unlike her sister, Nannette, who is as pure as they come. It is Taviana who is bold enough to speak her mind - a former teen prostitute, taken in by the Movement, only to be thrown out when it is clear her influence is "dangerous." But there are show more other ways for Celeste to discover the world outside, and as it gets closer and closer to Celeste's birthday, she knows she has a choice to make. This stirring novel may not tell the most original story, but it tells the story well. The characters will stay with you long after you've turned the last pages, making time you've spent with Sister Wife time well spent. show less

Celeste was born in Unity, a fictional town clearly based on Colorado City, Arizona, the home of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. Almost everyone in Unity is a member of the Movement, a fundamentalist religion that requires men to have multiple wives to reach the highest levels of heaven. Sister Wife brings the concepts of love, religion, marriage, family, and expectations together in a thoroughly believable story of one young woman and her attempts to discover how her life should be lived.

Although she wishes to be faithful, Celeste has long struggled with aspects of life in the Movement. Women and children are expected to be unthinkingly obedient, and Celeste has watched her pregnant mother grow show more progressively weaker in a community that doesn't believe in medical care. Taviana, a newcomer to the community who was rescued from a life of teen prostitution and homelessness, tells Celeste stories of her life outside that leave Celeste both confused and intrigued. To add to her troubled mind, Celeste is about to turn 15, the age at which the Prophet will reveal the man to whom she will be assigned in marriage. Celeste knows that she will undoubtedly be assigned to a man who is as old as her father, and this reality is becoming more untolerable to her, especially since she has become interested in a young man closer to her own age.

As Celeste's friends begin to leave the Movement, Celeste is caught between her desire to follow them into the outside world and her loyalty to her family. Celeste's struggle is compassionately and realistically portrayed, with her primary motivation to stay being her strong loyalty to her family and her desire not to cause them disgrace or pain. Her relationships with family members and friends ring very true, and her decisions are utterly believable.

The story is told in alternating chapters between Celeste, her younger sister Nanette, who is eager to become a sister-wife and begin raising children, and Tavaina, a newcomer to Unity who was rescued from her life of teen prostitution and homelessness by a member of the community. The alternating viewpoints somewhat weakened the novel, as the girls did not have distinct voices - I sometimes found myself having to flip back to the beginning of the chapter to see who was speaking.

I'm often skeptical of books with a "ripped from the headlines" feel, but I was pleasantly surprised with the way polygamy and religion were handled. A primary strength of the novel is that there are few villains; the characters were clearly struggling to do the right thing, even when they didn't know what that "right thing" was. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Sister Wife. show less

: I’m not really sure how to rate this book. I’m still digesting it. It is so different from anything I have come across, I’m not completely sure what to think. It is a good ending. Everyone gets what they deserve. I was drawn in by very distinct characters, all facing the same decision (to stay or go). I kept reading to find out what they would do in the end. And which factors were going to play into their decisions. And I was very drawn in by all the little details of their “culture”, as I have never experienced anything like that, and had no knowledge of that way of life. I don’t know if this kind of reading is my norm, or if I will be doing a lot of it in my future, but I did enjoy this ‘taste’. =D

This is a fast-paced read that will provide teens an intriguing glimpse of life in a religious, polygamous cult. Celeste's decision to stay with the cult differs from similar YA novels on the same topic ("The Chosen One," "The Patron Saint of Butterflies") yet provides an opportunity for a satisfying ending. Readers also get perspectives from Celeste's more pious sister Nanette, and outsider Taviana serves as our navigator between the two worlds.

It felt like an overly simplistic view of polygamy with an ending that just tied everything up in nice little bows asking us to look past some major issues and instead focus on what is probably the least problematic aspect of the entire story.

Sister Wife is told from the alternating points of view of three teenagers living in the polygamous community of Unity: rebellious Celeste, a 14-year-old girl who is about to be “assigned” to an older man and become a sister wife; virtuous Nanette, Celeste’s younger sister; and Taviana, a young woman who was rescued off the streets by one of the men in the community. This is an interesting device because it allows Hrdlitschka to explore what it would be like to live in Unity from three very different perspectives. For the most part, I enjoyed the book: I sympathized with Celeste’s plight and was curious to find out what would happen to her. I particularly loved how Hrdlitschka used the inuksuks to introduce Celeste to another show more way of looking at the world. Unfortunately, I also felt that Hrdlitschka tried too hard to be non-judgemental, which made the book both less interesting and less realistic. The last chapter in particular seemed to be suggesting that polygamy is just another lifestyle choice that works for some and not for others, which is a dangerous message in my opinion.* In addition, the denouement of Celeste’s story didn’t strike me as particularly realistic. Having said that, I’m still going to recommend Sister Wife, with reservations, to those who are interested in polygamy.

*I’m not suggesting that polygamy is inherently wrong, only that being married off to an older man at the age of 15 is not a lifestyle choice. It actually isn’t a choice at all.

A slightly different version of this review can be found on my blog, she reads and reads. show less

I liked this, the subject of multiple wives, and very young women getting marries could have been treated like a tabloid headline, but many different characters had depth, the issues of this community were not painted in black and white.