Keep Sweet

by Victoria Waddle

Uncle Timothy opened his office door, apologized for being late, huffed a bit with his girth, and ran his hand through thinning hair. He'd had a call at home, he said, placing his cellphone on the big oak desk with its dark stain and clawed feet. His apartment was an attached unit, but separate from his house. Elizabeth thought of how nice it would be to have a second home of one's own, away from the ocean of family. Uncle Timothy's chair creaked when he sat. Elizabeth looked at her lap. 

"Let us pray." Uncle Timothy asked God's guidance in carrying out the command as it was recently revealed in Timothy's vision.

A rolling muscle cramp curled up Elizabeth's midsection; she knew what a vision meant. She placed her open palm on her tummy, felt the row of pearly blue buttons. She'd felt grown the day she'd picked out the fabric and the buttons. And more grown when she'd finished the dress. Her grandmother inspected the hem and pronounced it perfectly even. "Look at those stitches," her mother had said with pride. 

But in the office of the Prophet, she felt she was a child.

"Elizabeth," Uncle Timothy said with a broad smile, "this is a happy day. God has revealed your eternal partner to me. You will be wed next year to Travis Lyman, sealed for all time and eternity."



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Elizabeth Warren is a fourteen-year-old living in the "Community" with her father, four mothers, and sixteen siblings. The prophet, Uncle Timothy, controls all facets of the cult. He assigns young girls to marry far older men, with whom they will have numerous children. When he has a vision that Elizabeth will marry her nineteen-year-old cousin, she has no choice. Demanding submission of both body and soul, the prophet destroys lives under the guise of correcting souls.

 

Smart but poorly educated,Elizabeth at first submits to her fate. Observant, she realizes no one is two of her moms love one another, but are not free to express this; another is pulling the family apart in her effort to get free. As Elizabeth better understands the prophet's manipulation of community members, she joins forces with her twin brother, her older sister, and two good friends to free her family from the psychological and spiritual abuse of an evil man. With their prophet two steps ahead of them and holding all the power, Elizabeth realizes they need outside help, which requires telling the dark secret of her life.

Kindle Edition

Published June 21, 2025

Reviews

[Julie Snider · Rating 5 out of 5]

In KEEP SWEET, Victoria Waddle conveys the terrible truths of life inside a cult. Written primarily from the point of view of 14-year-old Elizabeth as she navigates the increasing spiritual and physical demands of the so-called Prophet who heads the Community, the novel feels more like fact than fiction. Bolstered by a friend within the community who also has fallen prey to this controlling monster, Elizabeth gathers strength to begin standing up for herself. The narrative makes it clear that although the girls and women are primary targets of the Prophet’s sick and controlling plans, boys and men also suffer as a result of the mores of the Community. There is a hopeful message at the end of the book, one worth waiting for.

As a retired high school teacher, I hope KEEP SWEET makes its way into many school and public libraries. People of all genders and ages need to read this realistic portrayal of the pain that ultimate control exerts within a closed community. I highly recommend the book to anyone who cares about the dangers of brain washing and the impact that the poison inflicted upon its victims has upon all of us in the long run.

[Mary Camarillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth, the protagonist in “Keep Sweet,” Victoria Waddle’s latest release, is fourteen years old and living in a rural “Community” with her parents, three sister wives, and 16 siblings under the thumb of a “prophet” who controls everything, from their pets and candy consumption, to who they will marry and have children with. When he decides Elizabeth will marry her cousin, Elizabeth’s future seems doomed. But when she turns to the “helper” inside her and recognizes the power of her own intuition, she starts asking questions and finds her own voice.

Waddle’s story also gives voice to the abuse the boys in this cult suffered as well as the generational impact on those who escaped and those who stayed. This is not a light read but it is timely and necessary. Waddle has created a strong role model for young adults in Elizabeth.