A book review of The Sound of Gravel, a memoir by Ruth
Wariner
I finished reading The Sound of Gravel in two days. It will take me much, much longer to finish
thinking about it.
The Sound of Gravel is a memoir by Ruth Wariner. It is her first book and it recounts her
childhood as part of a polygamist Mormon colony. I imagine the hooks of “polygamy” and
“Mormon” are strong ones, but if I were describing this book (which I am!), I
would describe it as a child/sexual abuse story set within a cult.
Ruth’s father was the leader of the polygamist colony in
Mexico (which had been founded by his father).
She was his 39th child by his 5th wife. He was killed (allegedly by men acting on his
brother’s behalf) when Ruth was young and her mother remarried.
Ruth’s story is one of adversity, of poverty, of abuse. One of a peripatetic life spent between
Mexico and the US. One full of questions
about inconsistencies between beliefs and actions. One of disappointment in parents, of her
entire community. And finally, one of
escape and survival.
There were moments of joy in Ruth’s life, too. Friendships with classmates. Love for her sometimes-difficult
siblings. And, of course, there was an
escape from the colony after too many of her immediate family had perished.
Ruth Wariner’s writing is plain in a way that fits her
story. It is the story of her childhood
told through a child’s eyes. She tells
her story without self-pity. She is more
forgiving, more generous with her mother than I would be in her situation.
The best news is that she survived. And that she fled and managed to take three
of her younger siblings with her. She’s
raised them, earned her GED, graduated from college and graduate school and
became a high school teacher. And now
she’s written a riveting book.
I recommend this book.
And about their colony here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Firstborn_(LeBaron_order)
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