The Sound of Gravel
Book description
The Sound of Gravel is Ruth Wariner's unforgettable and deeply moving story of growing up in a polygamist Mormon doomsday community. The thirty-ninth of her father's forty-one children, Ruth is raised on a farm in the hills of Mexico, where polygamy is practiced without fear of legal persecution. There, Ruth's…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Sound of Gravel as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This is an amazing memoir of a woman who was raised by a fundamentalist Morman family who lived in a polygamist compound in Mexico. She was her father’s thirty-ninth child and the daughter of a union between him and her mother, who was his fifth wife. Her father died when she was only 3 months old, and she spent most of her childhood with her mother, four siblings, and an abusive stepfather. The community was a confusing combination of rigid religious beliefs, sister wives, and poverty. At age 15 she takes three of her siblings and escapes to California to…
From Brian's list on people who left life-defining ideologies.
I felt this story was so real and powerful because it is told from the perspective of a young girl. The book is a true story of a polygamist cult living in Mexico to avoid prosecution. I was given a first-hand account of the isolation and indoctrination of the children and how they are taught that their only path to heaven is through this lifestyle. I could feel the angst of the decisions and struggles with family loyalties that these girls face. I was drawn into this story because of its tale of tragedy, and I loved that eventually, it…
From Brenda's list on escaping polygamist cults.
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