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Ruth

A LitHub most anticipated book of 2025

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.

Intimate and inviting... Riley’s arresting debut [...] rebuts more orthodox modes of storytelling and plotting, while also challenging ideas we might hold about what exactly it is that gives our lives meaning... through it all, Riley’s transcendently plain-spoken prose is imbued with what we might best describe as linguistic grace.

Daily Telegraph

About Kate Riley

Kate Riley was raised in New York City. This is her last book.
Details
  • Imprint: Doubleday
  • ISBN: 9780857529886
  • Length: 256 pages
  • Dimensions: 222mm x 23mm x 141mm
  • Weight: 358g
  • Price: £16.99
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