Ruby
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Narrated by:
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Cynthia Bond
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By:
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Cynthia Bond
About this listen
Shortlisted for the Baileys' Women's Prize for Fiction 2016
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 centre 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 finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realisation 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 tale of passion and courage. This audiobook 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 AudioCritic Reviews
"Stunning."' (The New York Times)
"Exceptional." [Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black)]
What listeners say about Ruby
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amy
- 17-05-2019
Harrowing but magical
Not a story for the the faint of heart, but this was one of the best tales I have ever read. This talented author's prose was beautiful and her visuals, spellbinding. A truly worthwhile read where human cruelty brings tears to the eyes and breaks cracks in the heart, then moves to fill those cracks with light and in finality, reveals the human spirits ability to redeem itself. I loved loved loved this book.
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- Anonymous User
- 23-07-2019
Finished 12 hours in 2 days
I loved this book so much. I heard about it first on Oprah’s podcast and I knew I had to have it but I just couldn't put it away. Poeticly written, heart felt, sad but truthful and inspiring to mothers and women xx thank you
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- Karena Dalla Rosa
- 04-01-2021
Powerful
I have listened to or read 40 books in 2020 and ‘Ruby’ was the final one for the year. It was also ,hands down, the best! Sublimely written and narrated!
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