Very gripping story. I did find it very hard to understand parents and adults allowing children to suffer so much and placing unbelievable responsibilities on such young children. The writing was very well done as to the simplicity of the memories of a child. Although, I would have liked the story to continue further into the growing and changing of their lives in the teen and young adult years of the Author. I felt the ending was flat, just dropping off with some life facts. So I give it a 4.5 star rather than a 5.
This book will make you grateful that you were not born into a polygamous cult. Life could be worse.
The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner was my last book for Nonfiction November - such an incredibly moving memoir. I read it in just two days because it was so compelling, and it was very poignant to read it on Thanksgiving Day.
Ruth was raised in the polygamist LaBaron family, her mother's 4th child and her father's 39th. Throughout her chaotic childhood, she lived in deplorable conditions in various locations, primarily rural Mexico, El Paso Texas, and California. At times, I found myself wishing this was a novel because it was heartbreaking to know actual people experienced the events outlined in this story.
Ms. Wariner is an incredibly strong woman, and I appreciated the honesty yet restrained emotion of her story. Although she was certainly "entitled" to a "oh poor me" attitude, the book never goes there.
I'm grateful she and her siblings built a life for themselves away from their negative past, but my heart aches for children who currently live in conditions as those described in this memoir. Even when we feel we're having a tough day/week/year, we have much to be thankful for. If you haven't read this yet, put it on your TBR list.
Ruth was raised in the polygamist LaBaron family, her mother's 4th child and her father's 39th. Throughout her chaotic childhood, she lived in deplorable conditions in various locations, primarily rural Mexico, El Paso Texas, and California. At times, I found myself wishing this was a novel because it was heartbreaking to know actual people experienced the events outlined in this story.
Ms. Wariner is an incredibly strong woman, and I appreciated the honesty yet restrained emotion of her story. Although she was certainly "entitled" to a "oh poor me" attitude, the book never goes there.
I'm grateful she and her siblings built a life for themselves away from their negative past, but my heart aches for children who currently live in conditions as those described in this memoir. Even when we feel we're having a tough day/week/year, we have much to be thankful for. If you haven't read this yet, put it on your TBR list.
This story just about broke my heart. The fact that Ruth survived to tell her story is amazing. I would have like a little more at the end, but for the most part this story is a testament to brave girls everywhere.
The strength of character shown by the author is amazing. Who among us would ever conceive of surviving childhood abuse as she plus her brothers and sisters did. People in that family could have rescued the children. Ruth is an amazing woman.
