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 FictionRuth 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