The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir

Content Warning: This section contains descriptions of child sexual abuse and neglect, domestic violence, graphically depicted deaths, and religious abuse and trauma.

Fundamentalism in religion can lead down a dangerous road due to abuses of power, strict adherence to teachings, and a devotion to something else other than the people living and breathing around oneself. Ruth introduces the women of LeBaron by quoting a woman in church who proclaimed, “After all, it is better to have ten percent of one good man that to have one hundred percent of a bad one” (8). Ruth notes that the women of LeBaron said this often. They seemed to talk themselves out of the jealousy, loneliness, and heartache they experienced. Kathy married Joel when she was 17 and he was 42, and at the time saw nothing wrong with that. Looking back on it later, she had no regrets and still believed she made the right choice. She saw no fault in Joel for taking advantage of her or setting her up for a difficult and lonely life. With Lane, Kathy was the same, always putting him first and even sacrificing her children’s well-being to keep Lane happy.