The Sound Of Gravel by Ruth Wariner– Audio Version
Book Blurb:
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 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. 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 step-father 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 forge a better life for herself.
My Review: 4 stars
The Sound Of Gravel left me feeling fascinated, sad, overwhelmed and oddly inspired. Listening to this book on audio, with the author as the narrator, truly felt like we were having coffee and she just poured out her story. Of course, as she went on, there were times I wanted to interrupt her and ask questions about different situations.
Many readers have been comparing this book to The Glass Castle and I just couldn’t fathom the comparison of alcoholism to polygamy. But I now understand that it’s the similarity in writing about abhorrent situations without pity. They both are written as factual accounts without the “poor me” attitude.
Wariner recalls her memories of poverty, abuse, and living on the commune with a calm POV. Fortunately, she had the wherewithal to save herself, her disabled brother and her three younger sisters at the tender age of 15. Overall, this was an interesting look into the fundamentalist religion that puts childbearing and polygamy first.
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