Review:
This is my winner. A story of race and gender set against the backdrop of the spiritualism and small town politics of Liberty, Texas. The soaring, lyrical writing tells a story of cruelty and abuse and it's a heart-wrenching, difficult read at times but there is also magic and hope, and even some humour (Anna James, Elle (Bailey's Shortlist 2016))
Read Ruby by Cynthia Bond... it was exceptional. It was really incredible and very well written. It went into the belly of the beast, and I don't know if I'm fully out of it yet. (Uzo Aduba, star of ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK)
Oprah recommended this book to me, and it is astounding. The writer has such a majestic command of language; she catapults everyday words into rare air with lines that sear into your memory. The characters Ruby and Ephraim shimmer with vibrancy - they show the complications of pain and joy, all messily and beautifully together. A total triumph (Ava DuVernay, Golden Globe-nominated director of SELMA)
luminous... a love story about pure-hearted patience conquering insurmountable odds. Many will compare Ruby to the work of Toni Morrison or Zora Neale Hurston, as Oprah Winfrey has ... but it may be most apt to compare Bond to Gabriel García Márquez. Ruby is woven with magical realism (Ann Friedman The Guardian)
stunning (New York Times)
Bond proves to be a powerful literary force, a writer whose unflinching yet lyrical prose is reminiscent of Toni Morrison's. (O, The Oprah Magazine)
The way she writes is incredible, and from the right page I was like, this is a writer I need to pay attention to (Jen Campbell)
Ruby is an incredibly moving, magical and menacing read that you will feel like you have experienced long after the final page. Bond looks at sexual and domestic abuse, Satanism and the supernatural, interracial racism, legends and myths, sexuality, family secrets and love. All this based in reality, in fact some of the novel is based on Cynthia Bond's own experiences, with an infusion of magical realism... Ruby is one of those books that will leave you as haunted as its characters. That is where its power lies (Simon Savidge, Savidge Reads)
It's a really powerful, really emotional story that tips slightly into the fantastical in a really brilliant way... This novel is really skilfully done and the writing in it is absolutely beautiful. I think it's one of the most beautifully written novels in the group of books in the shortlist (Eric Karl Anderson)
It is one of those books that once you've found it, is difficult to let go... It's a beautiful, hard-hitting, unusual tale of a book and one that stays with you long after the last page. (Annie Miller, Standard Issue)
Book Description:
***SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS' WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016***
PICKED BY OPRAH FOR HER BOOK CLUB 2.0
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING DEBUT
Voodoo, faith and racism converge in an East Texas town, where a man is forced to choose between the sister who raised him and the disgraced woman he has loved since he was a boy.
Can Ephram save Ruby from a town desperate to destroy her? Can hope triumph over pain?
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.