Ruth

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.

About the author

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.

Product details

• Authors: Kate Riley
• Publisher: Doubleday
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 21.08.2025
• EAN: 9780857529886
• ISBN: 978-0-85752-988-6
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 138 mm x 222 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; FICTION / Coming of Age, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), Fiction: special features, FICTION / Literary, FICTION / Religious, RELIGION / Cults, Narrative theme: Coming of age, Narrative theme: Identity / belonging, Far-left political ideologies and movements, Christian & quasi-Christian cults & sects, Religious and spiritual fiction, Religious & Spiritual Fiction, Marxism & Communism, Christian and quasi-Christian cults and sects, Modern and contemporary fiction: general and literary