Ruby by Cynthia Bond
Ruby is a gracefully written tale of love, the power of societal structures and the strength it takes to stand against these often seemingly solid structures in the name of humanity and kindness.
Beautiful Ruby Bell has returned to Liberty, a small town in Texas following years in New York City. Along with the rest of Liberty, Ephram Jennings, long time admirer of Ruby, has noticed her return to the town. Unlike the rest of Liberty, Ephram is the one to reach out and help Ruby.
After a childhood of shocking violence, Ruby fled Liberty for glamorous 1950s New York City, where she was met with a life that she could only take for so long.
On her return to Liberty, whilst the townspeople reject her from their community, Ephram is stuck in the middle of the strong opinions of the sister who raised him, and the help, support and love he feels for and offers to Ruby.
Bond takes us on a sad, shocking and frightening journey with helpless Ruby and an ever stronger Ephram who stands by Ruby despite all the danger this presented. A story of cruelty, darkness and violence, but also of strength, survival and loyalty. This was a brilliant read and Bond has truly made a literary mark with this remarkable debut novel. Highly recommended!
Themes:
Love
Survival
Patience
Torture
Race
Magic
Favourite quote from the book:
“Ruby Bell was a constant reminder of what could befall a woman whose shoe heels were too high. The people of Liberty Township wove her into cautionary tales of the wages of sin and travel. They call her buck-crazy. Howling, half-naked mad. The fact that she had come back from New York City made this somewhat understandable to the town.”
About the author:
Former actress, Cynthia Bond is an American author who is highly regarded and active in the literary world. Ruby is her stunning critically acclaimed debut novel, which has taken the world by storm; shortlisted for the 2016 Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, it spent six weeks in a row on the New York Times Bestseller list.
Bond was a PEN Rosenthal Fellow for Emerging Writers, founded The Blackbird Writing Collective to encourage and support other writers and she taught writing to vulnerable and homeless youth in Los Angeles.
Bond lives in Los Angeles with her daughter.
Where to buy:
Foyles
Waterstones
Wordery
LittleWordNerd rating: 4.5 / 5
