Ruth

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In this mesmerizing and profound novel, the arc of a woman's life in a devout, insular community challenges our deepest assumptions about what infuses life with meaning. Ruth is raised in a snow globe of Christian communism, a world without private property, television, or tolerance for idle questions. Every morning she braids her hair and wears the same costume, sings the same breakfast song in a family room identical to every other family room in the community; every one of these moments is meant to be a prayer, but to Ruth they remain puzzles. Her life is seen in glimpses through childhood, marriage, and motherhood, as she tries to manage her own perilous curiosity in a community built on holy mystery. Is she happy Might this in fact be happiness Ruth immerses us in an experience that challenges our most fervent beliefs.

Reviews

An irresistibly smart and funny novel * Jenny Offill, author of Weather, shortlisted for the Womens Prize For Fiction *
The serenely weird testament of an unintentional heroine in an intentional community and an act of novelistic grace that deserves not only cult status but its own religion. * Joshua Cohen, The Netanyahus, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2022 *
A detailed, delicate study of how character is formed by collision with so many sharp corners that they form a perfect circle how we entrap ourselves in the choices of others, glimpsing freedom in flashes like lightning on the horizon. * Nell Zink, author of Mislaid, listed for the National Book Award *

Author Bio

Kate Riley was born in New York City and now lives on a farm in rural Virginia. Drawn from her experience living in such a community, Ruth is her first novel.