Ruth

A LitHub most anticipated book of 2025 'It will become an underground classic' New York Times 'A wonderful, loving, tenderly teasing and often moving portrait... Standout' Wall Street Journal 'An irresistibly smart and funny novel' Jenny Offill, author of Weather, shortlisted for the Women's Prize For Fiction 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.

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.