The Sound of Gravel

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… show more.

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… show more.