Book Summary
A riveting, deeply-affecting true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist doomsday cult.
Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the polygamous practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible. After Ruth's father - the man who had been the founding prophet of the colony - is brutally murdered by his brother in a bid for church power, her mother remarries, becoming the second wife of another faithful congregant.
In need of government assistance and supplemental income, Ruth and her siblings are carted back and forth between Mexico and the United States, where her mother collects welfare and her stepfather works a variety of odd jobs. Ruth comes to love the time she spends in the States, realizing that perhaps the community into which she was born is not the right one for her. As Ruth begins to doubt her family's beliefs and question her mother's choices, she struggles to balance her fierce love for her siblings with her determination to find a better life for herself.
Ruth Wariner
- The Sound of Gravel is a powerful memoir by Ruth Wariner that follows her family through many trials and tribulations. The polygamist lifestyle in which her family is embroiled is filled with.
- Ruth Wariner's memoir, The Sound of Gravel, will be available January 5th, 2016 wherever books are sold!www.thesoundofgravel.comwww.ruthwariner.com.
The Sound Of Gravel Audrey
Ruth Wariner’s The Sound of Gravel is a 2016 memoir about the author’s experiences growing up in a polygamous Mormon cult. She describes the abuse that she and her mother experienced in their family, the atmosphere of fear and paranoia they lived in, and her ultimate triumphant escape from that world. In The Sound of Gravel, she offers an unforgettable portrait of the violence that threatened her community, her family's fierce sense of loyalty, and her own unshakeable belief in the possibility of a better life. An intimate, gripping tale of triumph and courage, The Sound of Gravelis a heart-stopping true story.