The Sound of Gravel

Archival Summary & Scope

A New York Times bestseller, *The Sound of Gravel* is the powerful true story of Ruth Wariner, born the 39th of her prophet-father's 42 children in an isolated polygamist Mormon Doomsday cult in rural Mexico. Raised without modern amenities, Ruth is taught that polygamy is the only path to heaven and that the world faces imminent destruction. When her father, the colony's founder, is brutally murdered, her mother remarries, becoming a second wife. Moving between Mexico and the U.S. for sustenance, Ruth glimpses a world beyond her isolated community. She begins to question her family's beliefs, grappling with her love for her siblings and her fierce determination to forge her own path. Recounted from an innocent yet hopeful child's perspective, this gripping memoir is a testament to courage, resilience, and the fight for a better life.

"A haunting, harrowing testament to survival." — *People Magazine*
"An addictive chronicle of a polygamist community." — *New York Magazine*