A New York Times bestseller and Oprah Book Club 2.0 selection, the epic, unforgettable story of a man determined to protect the woman he loves from the town desperate to destroy her. This beautiful and devastating debut heralds the arrival of a major new voice in fiction.
Ephram Jennings has never forgotten the beautiful girl with the long braids running through the piney woods of Liberty, their small East Texas town. Young Ruby Bell, “the kind of pretty it hurt to look at,” has suffered beyond imagining, so as soon as she can, she flees suffocating Liberty for the bright pull of 1950s New York. Ruby quickly winds her way into the ripe center of the city—the darkened piano bars and hidden alleyways of the Village—all the while hoping for a glimpse of the red hair and green eyes of her mother.
When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town’s dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.
Full of life, exquisitely written, and suffused with the pastoral beauty of the rural South, Ruby is a transcendent novel of passion and courage. This wondrous page-turner rushes through the red dust and gossip of Main Street, to the pit fire where men swill bootleg outside Bloom’s Juke, to Celia Jennings’s kitchen, where a cake is being made, yolk by yolk, that Ephram will use to try to begin again with Ruby.
Utterly transfixing, with unforgettable characters, riveting suspense, and breathtaking, luminous prose, Ruby offers an unflinching portrait of man’s dark acts and the promise of the redemptive power of love.
Ruby was a finalist for the PEN America Robert Bingham Debut Novel Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and an Indie Next Pick.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
CYNTHIA BOND has taught writing to homeless and at-risk youth throughout Los Angeles for more than fifteen years. She attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, then moved to New York and attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. A PEN/Rosenthal Fellow, Bond founded the Blackbird Writing Collective in 2011. At present, Bond teaches therapeutic writing at Paradigm Malibu Adolescent Treatment Center. A native of East Texas, she lives in Los Angeles with her daughter.
*Starred Review* Ephram Jennings, the son of a backwoods preacher, has been in love with the beautiful Ruby Bell ever since childhood. But Ruby has been so badly used by the men in her small African American town of Liberty, Texas, that she flees for New York City as soon as she is able, in search of the mother who abandoned her. When Ruby’s best friend dies, Ruby returns home, only to succumb to the bad memories that haunt her still. Once sharply dressed and coiffed, she now wanders the streets with ripped clothing and vacant eyes. But Ephram still sees her as the lighthearted girl with pigtails, running free in the woods. And so he begins his long, sweet courtship, bringing her a homemade cake, cleaning her filthy house, and always treating her with kindness. At long last, out from under his overbearing sister’s dominion, he feels himself come alive. But the church folks in town view their relationship as the work of the devil and seek to bring Ephram back to God and to cast out Ruby. In her first novel, Bond immerses readers in a fully realized world, one scarred by virulent racism and perverted rituals but also redeemed by love. Graphic in its descriptions of sexual violence and suffering, this powerful, explosive novel is, at times, difficult to read, presenting a stark, unflinching portrait of dark deeds and dark psyches. --Joanne Wilkinson
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
US$ 7.98 shipping from United Kingdom to Hong Kong
Destination, rates & speedsUS$ 30.00 shipping from U.S.A. to Hong Kong
Destination, rates & speedsSeller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR007403812
Quantity: 2 available
Seller: Books From California, Simi Valley, CA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Includes dust jacket. Signed. First Edition. Stated first. Inscribed and signed by the author on the title page, along with another gift inscription on the title page. Near fine in jacket. Seller Inventory # mon0003364453
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. First Edition. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # GRP89783185
Quantity: 2 available
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Used book that is in excellent condition. May show signs of wear or have minor defects. Seller Inventory # GRP102274465
Quantity: 2 available
Seller: Cathy's Half Price Books, Havertown, PA, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. We Ship Daily! Satisfaction Guaranteed! Seller Inventory # 179936
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: London Bridge Books, London, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # 0804139091-3-24262544
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Better World Books Ltd, Dunfermline, United Kingdom
Condition: Good. First Edition. Ships from the UK. Former library book; may include library markings. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages. Seller Inventory # GRP89783185
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Your Online Bookstore, Houston, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # 0804139091-3-19234641
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: Orion Tech, Kingwood, TX, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Good. Seller Inventory # 0804139091-3-19382085
Quantity: 1 available
Seller: SecondSale, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Condition: Good. Good condition ex-library book with usual library markings and stickers. Seller Inventory # 00086471642
Quantity: 2 available