Strange Children
In a polygamist commune in the desert, a fourteen-year-old boy and a twelve-year-old girl fall in love and consummate that love, breaking religious law. They are caught, and a year later, she gives birth to his father's child while the boy commits murder four hundred miles away--a crime that will slowly unravel the community.
Told by eight adolescent narrators, this is a story of how people use faith to justify cruelty, and how redemption can come from unexpected places. Though seemingly powerless in the face of their fundamentalist religion, these "strange children" shift into the central framework of their world as they come of age.
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
Sadie Hoagland is the author of Strange Children (Red Hen Press) and American Grief in Four Stages (West Virginia University Press), which earned a starred review from Kirkus Reviews. Her second novel, Circle of Animals will be published in 2024 (Red Hen Press). Her work has been featured in The Daily Beast, Salon, Electric Literature, Mid-American Review, Foreword Reviews, Necessary Fiction, Largehearted Boy, South Dakota Review, Passages North, Five Points, The Fabulist, The South Carolina Review, Writer's Digest, Women Writers, Women's Books, and elsewhere. She has a PhD in Fiction from the University of Utah and is the recipient of several fellowships. You can visit her online at sadiehoagland.com. She lives with her family in Salt Lake City, Utah.
