The thirty-ninth child

Ruthie, the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children, witnessed how terribly hard her mother's life was in the small polygamous colony of LeBaron. Crammed into a small house with no hot water, jerry-rigged electricity, and only a barrel heater for warmth, her mom cared for a growing brood of children including a violent, schizophrenic daughter, a developmentally-delayed son and a baby with hydrocephalus. Ruthie's stepfather provided little financially and there were constant petty jealousies with the other sister wives.

Life in LeBaron meant sacrifice, acknowledged her mom, but the deprivation and hardship were all part of God's will. So the babies kept coming, and more sister wives joined the family, and the misery increased exponentially, especially for Ruthie as her loathsome stepfather started paying sinister visits to her bed. Yet even this was seen as God's will.

From the first vivid descriptions of LeBaron to the final shattering chapters, Ruth Wariner's memoir The Sound of Gravel is a riveting portrait of growing up in a polygamous community.