Cheryl Unruh’s newest book is a memoir detailing a small-town childhood as the daughter of a carpenter who also happens to be the town cemetery caretaker. As Cheryl grows, so does her comprehension of her father’s particular maladies, a skin-condition that is not discussed by the family, as well as his struggles with depression, in “Gravedigger’s Daughter, Vignettes from a Small Kansas Town.”

Presented in short vignettes, “Gravedigger’s Daughter” introduces Unruh’s father from a child’s eye view, and then via observations and interactions that take us through Unruh’s adolescence to adulthood. Divided into three parts, the book covers Unruh’s childhood in Pawnee Rock, her father’s middle-age years when she lived away, and his later years. 

Unruh grew up in Pawnee Rock, population 400, in the 1960s and ’70s. “The stories, or vignettes, are poem-shaped, but each captures a moment in time. I see each one as a snapshot,” Unruh said. “While I will never be able to relate the entirety and complexity of a life, I hope that some of my dad’s weird and wonderful personality shines through.” 

Her father, Elgie Unruh – carpenter, school bus driver, rural mail carrier, cemetery sexton, and “one man promoter of Pawnee Rock” – grew up in Pawnee Rock and lived his entire 85 years in Barton County.  

From Laura Moriarty, author of The Chaperone: “With Gravedigger’s Daughter, Cheryl Unruh has created something so fresh and inviting – a memoir in lean vignettes. Each is moving on its own, and also part of a compelling portrait of a childhood in an isolated town with a dwindling population. Unruh’s details are too specific for sentimentalism, but places and people are observed with a loving gaze that also feels wise and honest. Her father, especially, emerges as both haunted and quietly heroic. What a beautiful book.” 

Fans of Cheryl’s two previous collections of vivid Kansas essays, “Flyover People” (2011 KS Notable Book) and “Waiting on the Sky” (2015 KS Notable Book), and “Walking on Water,” her collection of poetry, will delight in this memoir. Unruh hopes that the book will inspire readers to write their own stories “whether they write for their own pleasure or choose to share their stories with family and friends or perhaps even go on to publish their writing.” Unruh will be scheduling a series of memoir writing workshops starting in the spring of 2022. 

Gravedigger’s Daughter is available for order through meadowlark-books.square.site and may be ordered through any bookseller. Learn more at www.meadowlark-books.com.