A New York Times Bestseller, Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle meets Escape by Carolyn Jessup, The Sound of Gravel is the remarkable true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist Mormon Doomsday cult.
RUTH WARINER lives in Portland, Oregon. After Wariner left Colonia LeBaron, the polygamist Mormon colony where she grew up, she moved to California, where she raised her three youngest sisters. After earning her GED, she put herself through college and graduate school, eventually becoming a high school Spanish teacher. She remains close to her siblings and is happily married. The Sound of Gravel is her first book.
"The Sound of Gravel is a portrait of real courage in a sea of
pretenders. Ruth Wariner, you have my respect as a writer and a
survivor." --Kelly Corrigan, New York Times bestselling author of
The Middle Place "A haunting harrowing testament to survival."
--People Magazine "Wrenching and moving...Wariner is a survivor,
but more important, she's a fantastic writer."
--Entertainment Weekly "An addictive chronicle of a polygamist
community"
--New York Magazine "Engrossingly readable from start to finish...
an unsentimental yet wholly moving memoir."
--Kirkus Reviews "This well-written book is hard to put down and
hard to forget."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Haunting. Rather than delving
into the particulars of the community's beliefs, Wariner reveals
them as they arise. This gives great depth to the portrayal of her
situation. With power and insight, Wariner's tale shows a road to
escape from the most confining circumstances."
--Booklist "If your book club is looking for a startling memoir,
look no further than The Sound of Gravel. Disturbing, powerful, and
poignant, Wariner delivers a harrowing story of survival and taking
the necessary risk of saving yourself."
--Real Simple "The Sound of Gravel will haunt you, and Ruth Wariner
will inspire with her direct, unsentimental prose. I lost sleep
reading this memoir and felt nothing but awe and respect. That Ruth
survived to tell this story simply boggles my mind."
--Jennifer Lauck, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbird,
Still Waters, Show Me The Way, and Found "The Sound of Gravel is a
riveting portrayal of what it's really like to grow up in a
polygamist community. Ruth Wariner's simple writing, her enduring
love for her mother and siblings, and her dramatic escape make this
an engrossing, deeply moving memoir."
--Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance and
After This "What chance does a girl have in a world where men
believe that they (and they alone) are destined to be gods? This is
the question Ruth Wariner bravely asks as she brings us into the
hardscrabble Mormon polygamous communities of remote northern
Mexico. Like a Dorothy Allison of the American West, Wariner shows
us the humanity and tenacity in the people she comes from while
making no apology for wanting something better for herself. Ruth
Wariner has given us an unforgettable portrait of an enduring and
deeply misunderstood segment of American society and a deeply
moving account of her own determined pathway out."
--Joanna Brooks, author of The Book of Mormon Girl: A Memoir of an
American Faith "A beautifully narrated story that manages to be
both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. Told with
generosity and without self-pity, I turned each page with
admiration of Ruth's resilience and strength of spirit. Powerless
as she watches her misguided mother endure a life of servility to
her stepfather, Ruth's love for her siblings and determination to
break destructive family patterns will fill your heart with hope
and triumph. I will not be forgetting this incredible memoir
anytime soon."
--Cea Sunrise Person, author of North of Normal: A Memoir of My
Wilderness Childhood, My Unusual Family, and How I Survived Both "I
can't remember a book that's had a greater impact on me.
Beautifully written, Ruth Wariner's powerful, raw memoir will touch
your heart like nothing you've read before. Told with unflinching
honesty and a childlike innocence, Wariner takes us
places--emotional and physical--few will ever experience, or even
fathom. Ultimately this book is a testament to the human spirit, a
tale of hope. Its stories of tragedy, abuse, trust, and dreams
betrayed are more than offset by Wariner's pure goodness: her
courage, determination, wits, resilience, and ultimately, in her
quest to save her beloved siblings, triumph. Jon Krakauer's Under
the Banner of Heaven is a very good book. Ruth Wariner's The Sound
of Gravel is a great book, one that will haunt and inspire you for
the rest of your life. In her exquisite and powerful telling,
Wariner takes us to the darkest recesses of extreme polygamist
Mormonism--on a painfully real and personal level--and brings us
back to the light."
--April Christofferson, author of Trapped "The Sound of Gravel
takes us into the complex relationships of families with
intransigent beliefs, religious convictions so dogmatic that
harrowing consequences are forced upon their children. Ruth
Wariner, this child of an isolated polygamist community, not only
survives the oppression, but writes this unaffected tale of
compassion and haunting sadness.""
--Sonya Lea, author of Wondering Who You Are: A Memoir "The Sound
of Gravel is a powerful indictment against religious fundamentalism
and the way zealots control and harm generations of women and
children. This is an important, and ultimately triumphant,
story."
--Julia Scheeres, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus Land
and A Thousand Lives
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