Ruby

A Novel

By: Cynthia Bond

Narrated by: Cynthia Bond

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, “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, 30-year-old Ruby Bell 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 pause-resister 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.

©2014 Cynthia Bond (P)2014 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Reading Cynthia Bond’s Ruby, you can’t help but feel that one day this book will be considered a staple of our literature, a classic. Lush, deep, momentous, much like the people and landscape it describes, Ruby enchants not just with its powerful tale of lifelong quests and unrelenting love, but also with its exquisite language. It is a treasure of a book, one you won’t soon forget." (Edwidge Danticat, author of Claire of the Sea Light)

"A stunning debut. Ruby is unforgettable." (John Rechy, author of City of Night)

"Pure magic. Every line gleams with vigor and sound and beauty. Ruby somehow manages to contain the darkness of racial conflict and cruelty, the persistence of memory, the physical darkness of the piney woods and strange elemental forces, and weld it together with bright seams of love, loyalty, friendship, laced with the petty comedies of small-town lives. Slow tragedies, sudden light. This stunning debut delivers and delivers and delivers." (Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander)

Interesting

l enjoyed it. kept my attention. difficult subject matter at times but very real and thoughful

Intense, yet beautifully written

I had some difficulty reading the book because I had some difficulty with metaphorical phrases. I decided to continue to read and had a better understanding of Ruby's character.

Riveting

I had to listen to the beginning at least 3 times but once I got into the story I could not stop listening. Narrator excellent with both men's and women's voices which can sometimes be distracting. Story was almost too painful at times but author moved through those times gracefully

Love the book!

The performance by the author was awesome. Job well done. I never awesome she would deliver the story the way she did.

Good Read

struggled to finish I hope this wasn't a true story.
Ruby had a horrible child hood because she was beautiful.
The narrator's voice made you feel her pain and sorrow.

Painfully obscure with a dark religious undertone

Enjoyed all the colorful characters and their inability to see and connect with their inner hurts are understood. Thumbs Up!

Nothing like you have ever heard before

Intense. Disturbing. Heartwarming. Hopeful. Shocking. This book is nothing like you have ever heard or read.

So sad and yet so beautifully written

If you are looking for a feel good book this is not it. But it is a beautifully written story that draws you in. There is some magic realism that feels almost real. It starts out slow and the reader grew on me after a while and by the end I decided she read it just right.

Survivors beware

If you have experience sexual trauma be forewarned that this story maybe hard listen. Certain scenes are very descriptive, as soon as the main character is empowered the story ends! It is a great story of overcoming.

very dark and deep. not for the faint of heart.

So painful to listen to, I believed I could feel her pain. She isn't alone.