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    Ruby: A Novel
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    Ruby: A Novel
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    Ruby: A Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Ruby: A Novel

    Written by Cynthia Bond

    Narrated by Cynthia Bond

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 29, 2014
    ISBN9780804165907
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Ruby

    3.5/5

    269 ratings98 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I am very conflicted about this novel. The author is brilliantly gifted with a genius for writing. Her prose is beautiful, her descriptions beyond illuminating, her characters fully drawn and brought to life. The writing in this novel is luminous. The story is riveting, moving and haunting. My problem with the book is that the story is so overwhelmingly disturbing, and Bond's talents make it almost unbearably painful to read. There were many times when I wanted to put it down, get it out of my house, but I read on as the back cover promised a story of love and redemption...I needed the redemption! On Goodreads there are an unusual number of excellent, carefully written and thoughtful reviews about this novel. They are worth reading.

      There has been a great deal of debate in the media lately about "trigger warnings", and I am conflicted about the subject, but this a book that no reader should embark upon without fair warning: if any or all of the following subjects will upset you as a reader, I suggest you avoid this novel; racism, lynching, sexual abuse, child abuse, child rape, child prostitution, rape, prostitution, sexual violence, incest, torture, satanic ritual abuse, abuse of the mentally ill, spousal abuse,... these topics are not merely written about in this book, they are the dark dirty nasty secrets festering in the town where the characters live and they are described so vividly that I now wish I could scrub images from my mind. It is not that I have not encountered these issues before, it is just that in this novel the onslaught is so relentless. The fact that the author works with homeless and at-risk youth, and therefore probably can draw on stories she has heard from the children she has worked with makes this even more disturbing.

      If you have the courage to read this book - and it is a brilliant and important work, I suggest having a light comedic book ready to read afterwards - something by Mindy Kaling or Tina Fey, or anyone who will take your mind to happy place, you will need it!
    • 4/5
      This was beautifully written. The author's voice reminds me of Toni Morrison. And it checks off every box for diverse reading.
      I took off one star because it also checks off every way a female could be abused, with graphic, heartbreaking violence that was, at times, very hard to read.
      Ruby is a strong woman, who can only grow stronger as the trilogy progresses, and I look forward to reading the next two phases of her journey.
    • 4/5
      A heartbreaking story. The torture was unbearable. What kept me reading was the amazing writing style of Bond. Her use of magic realism to give evil a face and a way for the murdered and abused children an avenue to show their pain. In the end there was hope. It's a story I'll carry with me.
    • 2/5
      "Your daddy and me named you Otha. It means 'wealth.' You were your daddy's treasure from the time you were born until he died. He used to say there were rubies buried deep inside of you. Remember, baby, don't never let a man mine you for your riches. Don't let him take a pickax to that treasure in your soul. Remember, they can't get it until you give it to them. They might lie and try to trick you out of it, baby, and they'll try. They might lay a hand on you, or worse, they might break your spirit, but the only way they can get it is to convince you it's not yours to start with. To convince you there's nothing there but a lump of coal.Honey, one day I'm going to die, and that's not all, one day you'll day too. And between the here and the there, God sets us upon the business of collecting life's true fortune. I've gotten plenty: the way your daddy smiled when I met him; the apple pie your grandmother used to make, with whole cinnamon grated in with the sugar; the maple leaves in the fall and how that always meant your daddy's fig maple syrup would be on our pancakes. And you. You my big beautiful jewel baby. You my prize. And one day you'll have a child and that child will be your prize.Teach them to see it, teach them by doing. But if you can't, if you done give your treasure away, if you find it hard to make your way in the dark of your own soul, if you forget who you really are, know that it comes back to you when the lie they give you die. That lie don't die easy, and sometimes it take you with it. But for all that, your bounty yet waits for you to claim it.Remember and it will yet shine. Shine brighter when you let love touch you. Shine brighter when you love yourself. Shine on into heaven when you leave this world." This is when the 5 star rating system fails you or rather it doesn't precisely (or accurately) fit the bill. Cynthia Bond is a poet of literary fiction. There is heartbreaking, huge impact, tear you open writing to be found in the pages of Ruby and Ephron's story. The above passage is from Ephron's grandmother to his mother Otha. When I listened to it, while sitting in my backyard gazing at the trees, I started crying. It gets to the core of what being a woman, being vulenerable and trusting, and wanting to be love means. Passages like this one are what made this a book to love and to sit for a moment in pondering. However, there is so much darkness happening to and around these characters it was an emotional endeavor to continue reading.Cynthia Bond has a voice for narrating, but I take issue with how fluid and poetic her narration is about such darkness. It made me feel like at times it was making light of the story by such a voice given words to this story. I think she should definitely narrate more books, even her own, but for such a tale I'm not sure what would be more fitting. This story may best have been left to the page for me.Aside from the narrating for the audiobook I found Ruby's continuous tragedy too overwhelming. I can see this story being a huge trigger for some. I had to put it down and walk away because listening for more than an hour at a time (my fault I was trying to finish it for book club) left me numb and on shutdown mode. I 'like' the true to life stories a tragic novel brings to the table, but it was too much here. I know real life is terrible and terrible, abhorrent, bound for hell people exist, but holy hell. When I thought it couldn't get any worse it did get worse and explicitly so.I didn't love this book. The style of writing is beautiful, but the deep dive into human pain is difficult to see past. It starts to read more as a how bad can it get to be Ruby 'thrill' ride. I'm not even sure I'm accurately conveying my feelings because this book so drained me.
    • 3/5
      I never really wanted to read this book but when it got voted in for my f2f bookclub for January 2019, I put it on my kindle. Just finished today and while I can say the author can write some nice sentences, the book is not so nice; filled with a lot of sexual abuse, violence and the occult. I understand that abuse happens and that abuse is violence but the added part of the occult, just pushed it over the top for me. I do believe the author tried to write like Toni Morrison and for that she will score down for me as she did not contribute originality to her writing. The story is about the abuse of women by men, and in this book it is black men abusing black women and girls. It is about hypocrisy and self righteousness of the religious community. It is about the powerlessness of women to protect themselves and their children. In the end it is about finding your own voice in a world that tries to talk for you, both for Ephram and for Ruby who take back the power that has been taken from them. The setting is 50's to the 70s. The March on Washington in 1963 is referred to twice. This is not really historical fiction.
    • 3/5
      Ruby by Cynthia Bond. I have mixed feelings about this one. It is probably my least favorite of Oprah’s book club selections. This book will not be for the weak of heart. It is dark, disturbing, graphic, grotesque, and really just a horrific tale of sexual abuse. Women and children are raped and beaten. Men are evil and demonic. There is a magical realism, voodoo, supernatural element to the book that I found weird and confusing. All that being said, the author’s prose was brilliant, poetic, and powerful at times and it may have been necessary to include all the graphic details so the reader could understand the terrible cruelty of sexual abuse. My book club had a very good discussion about the book. It reminds me of Beloved by Toni Morrison, which I didn’t really care for either. Ruby is the tragic heroine of the book. She is sold into prostitution at a young age and is the perfect example of how a lifetime of sexual abuse can break a person. And then along comes Ephram, who tries to help Ruby face and overcome her past. Will she be able rebuild “the broken femur of her soul?” Can the human spirit survive such traumatic experiences? Is it possible that she can find love and peace at last?
    • 5/5
      OH MY GAWD.
    • 5/5
      Ruby by Cynthia Bond is a beautifully executed work of historical fiction. I adored this book, Ruby Bell and Ephram Jennings, the sadness, the bittersweet, the atmospheric feel of the book, everything. Cynthia Bond is an extremely gifted writer and Ruby is an exceptional work of literature. A word of caution: Ruby does contain some very graphic scenes, which could be very upsetting to some readers.
    • 4/5
      This was a difficult book to read. The story is full of rape, incest, child rape, abuse, prostitution, and other horrors. Cynthia Bond unflinchingly depicts all of the dark, horrible acts that men could possible commit against women and children. The story examines the nature of evil and its relation to religion, superstition, and magic. She weaves together a complex tale that disgusts you at the same time compelling you to read on. There is an element of redemption towards the end of the novel, but is it enough in the face of all the evil. I feel that this is a book that would be good for a book club to get into a debate about. Cynthia Bond is an excellent novelist and has produced a compelling first novel. I am intrigued to see what she writes next. I know that I will not be able to get Ruby out of my head for a while.
    • 5/5
      Author Cynthia Bond must be an extraordinary woman to have conceived of and written this extraordinary novel. The prose is lush, with a handcrafted feel in which not a word or a phrase lacks vitality or is out of place.

      The abuse of the child-woman Ruby Bell is almost too much to bear reading, and her ability to cope and overcome the shocking brutality of her circumstances is equally mesmerizing. The yearning that compells her childhood friend Ephram Jennings to love her mind back to reality after her remarkable return to Liberty, Texas from New York City is equally crushing and poignant.

      Ruby strikes me as being a great American classic, placing Cynthia Bond in the same league as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, and other great African American writers who came before her. This is a debut novel well worth reading.
    • 1/5
      Does a good job of capturing communities of the rural Sputh and a way of life that no longer exists, great writing. But filled with cliches and almost no plot, just characters. Unrealistic to have no good people in the town, just victims and bullies.
    • 4/5
      This is a beautifully written book with exceptional characters, and a very strong sense of place. It is, however, also a very disturbing and difficult book. Her portrayal of the horrors that humans are able to inflict on each other gripped my heart in a way that made me reluctant, each time I set the book down, to enter back into the story. In any case, the strong writing and the scenes of redemption and hope at the end of the book made it well worth reading.
    • 4/5
      This is one of the better early review books that I've ready lately. There were some really unique descriptive passages, but without clouding the narrative too much. The book slightly lacked cohesion, meandering from one time and place to another without a truly clear purpose, and I am not sure that Ruby was really our main character--at least not more so than one or two others. But all the same, enjoyed it.
    • 1/5
      I gave this book one star only because I had to rate it. I finished it only because I had to write a review. There is nothing in a review that I could say good about this book....it was depressing and dark. There wasn't even a plot much less strong characters. The Coen Brothers would love to make a movie of this book.
    • 5/5
      "Monday morning broke through, rubbing Sunday out of its eyes. All across town, coffee had been brewed and cups emptied. The crusts of toast and hardened grits had already been scraped into slop jars. And by 9:00 a.m. Ephram Jennings's sin had already been stirred, baked and left to cool, its scent filling the air of Liberty." (page 209)Ephram Jennings' sin was to show kindness and love to Ruby Bell, commonly believed to be a whore, and crazy to boot. He had loved Ruby since first encountering her when they were children. What he couldn't know was how Ruby had been beaten down and abused and made to feel less than whole since she was six years old. Through a narrative that moves back and forth in time, we learn the brutal details of life in Liberty, Texas - details of pain and murder, incest and rape, religious faith and supernatural belief. Ruby can't escape what everyone believes to be her fate, not even by fleeing to New York City. Her past calls her back to Liberty, and her past informs her present and her future. No room is left for hope or expectation, until Ephram braves the ridicule of the town to help Ruby find her worth."Like a blast of heat burning through her, it was suddenly too much, this constant, unrelenting kindness, the gentle in the center of his eyes that never slipped and fell. His attention had long since filled the shallow bowl she'd set aside for joy. In that moment it cracked." (page 214)As this one damaged soul calls out to another, and tries to overcome the distrust and anger, the tension builds, and the reader knows that yet more tragedy and horror is in store.Cynthia Bond is a fine writer. The first 50 or so pages were perhaps a bit over done, but she eventually settled into a rhythm with language that evoked both the supernatural and the prosaic, ghosts and haints along side the very real piney woods of East Texas. In a place where not so long ago, James Byrd, a black man, was tied to the back of a truck by two white men and dragged along the road until he died, the evils of which she writes are not hard to imagine as real. And while some elements of her story require a strong suspension of disbelief, the passion that limns each sentence and every element of this story shines through and makes for an indelible read. Not a perfect one, but certainly a powerful one. I am still picking up the pieces of my broken heart, only partly mollified by the faint glimmer of hope at the end of the book, almost undone by the darkness.
    • 3/5
      I expect Ruby is the sort of books critics will love. It has beautiful language, a rich sense of atmosphere, overarching themes, poignant symbolism, an ambiguous ending, and the farts during sex that seem to be a requirement in today's high brow fiction writing. I did appreciate all those things (except the farts).I found the story to be exceedingly dark and depressing. Author Cynthia Bond must view people as inherently evil because most all of her characters certainly were and they didn't hesitate to act on their evil impulses- beating after beating, rape after rape. A few chapters in, I just got tired of the cruelty. A bookseller once suggested the meteor test to me - that if after 50 pages you would not care if a meteor crashed into the story's setting and killed all of the characters, you could stop reading the book without feeling guilty. I thought Texas in the 70's might be a better place if indeed that meteor hit, but I kept reading as I had a galley and was obligated to write a review. I gave five stars for Bond's writing style and one for the story, averaging out at three.
    • 4/5
      I was fortunate to receive a copy of Ruby: A Novel by Cynthia Bond through the LibrayThing Early Reviewers Program. Ruby is beautifully written and engaging but tough to read. The story chronicles the lives of Ruby Bell and Ephram Jennings which takes place in small town Liberty, Texas. Ruby has returned to Liberty after leaving in the 1950's to live in Manhattan. Ephram has been in Liberty his entire life and lives with his domineering and pious sister. When Ruby returns she is a shadow of her former self and no longer the beauty she was when she left to pursue her dreams up North. Although, the other town folk whisper about Ruby and treat her poorly Ephram still sees her through loving eyes. He has been in love with Ruby since he was a young boy and his view has not changed since he has returned. The author details how people in Liberty frown upon Ephram getting involved with Ruby particularly his overbearing sister, Celia. Celia seems to be a sociopath who isn't above lying to prove a point. She was both mother and sister to her brother after they both were orphaned following their father's death and their mother's confinement to a mental facility. The novel begins shortly after Ruby returns to Liberty and details how Ruby and Ephram first met and switches to the present and how they slowly come to know each other once again. Other than Ephram I didn't like any of the characters even Ruby. I realize that Ruby's upbringing caused her to behave the way she did but it seemed she didn't want to change and better herself. I was glad to see that Ephram finally stood up to his sister in the end and did what was best for him. This was a dark and brutal book but the prose was elegant and the story engaging. I look forward to reading other books by Cynthia Bond.
    • 4/5
      Cynthia Bond writes beautifully in Ruby. In my reading, I encountered some of the most beautiful turns of phrase. The characters are richly detailed, nuanced, and full of life. The supernatural elements of Ruby left me more than a little puzzled. I guess I just didn't buy them, or maybe I'm too ignorant of Southern spiritual culture to appreciate them. The prose is haunting though; well worth the read.
    • 3/5
      This novel was a bit of a mixed bag for me - I could certainly recognize and appreciate the great skill with which the author wrote this story. Her prose was quite lovely, and could be a delight to read in a different story. The problem I had with Ruby, however, was it's unrelenting darkness. Not only does nothing good happen to it's two main characters - it honestly seems like every possible bad things DOES happen, and it becomes difficult to read chapter after chapter. It became almost opressive, and while that may have been the author's intent, it did not make for a novel that I was excited to pick up. Because of the author's evident skill, however, I would give her work another try.(I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.)
    • 4/5
      Ruby by Cynthia Bond; (4*)Ruby is a book that is devastating, wonderfully written, and for this reader well worth the read. It was tragic and powerful at the same time.The son of a preacher, Ephraim has been in love with Ruby for most of his life. Ruby was once the town beauty but when she returns from New York City she falls into a life of horrors which she thought she had left far behind.As the story moves forward the reader learns the dark secrets hidden in small-town life. Ruby and Ephraim attempt to find comfort within one another.This is not a book for the weak of heart. There are parts of it that are devastating, including child rape. Can there be redemption from a life of horror? The author's words ask tough questions and the argument goes back and forth between 1940s and the 1970s. This reader found the climax of the story to be devastating but I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to read Ruby. It quite took my breath away.I do not recommend this book to those faint of heart.
    • 4/5
      Underlying all the horror and deception going on in Liberty, Texas is the beautiful story of redemptive love. I could have done without all of the "voodoo" going on, but other than that I found the author used exceptional technique in describing the horrors of Ruby's young life. A good first outing for Ms. Cynthia Bond.
    • 5/5
      This is a beautifully written book, but it is painful. Oh, is it painful. Just about every atrocity a human being can inflict is part of this book. Murder, rape, torture, child trafficking, lynching, forced prostitution, poverty, animal cruelty, the list goes on. I finished this book several months ago, but it has taken some time for me to be able to return to it to write the review. This book has haunted me. It is haunting. There were times while reading that I had to stop, because I was too overwhelmed to continue. I will admit, I have a bit of a sensitive soul, but I'd challenge anyone not to be affected by the story of Ruby Bell, and the town that tried to destroy her, while they also tried to destroy each other. Ruby hasn't really known kindness before, so when Ephraim Jennings tries to befriend her, she is skittish. And slowly, as their relationship grows over the course of a few days, we find out what happened to Ruby Bell. What happened to her family. What happened to the people of Liberty, Texas. There are a few magical elements mixed in with a tale of striving, racism, misogyny, and avarice. I understand that this book is going to be the first of a trilogy. I am interested in pursuing the next book, but I'm not sure if I can handle it. This was a deeply affecting book. This is one of those books I'm glad I read but also very sorry I read.
    • 5/5
      Well, that was quite a ride. Beautifully written -- Bond is a marvel at the sentence level -- and magical in more ways than one... and thank God for that, because the story itself is brutal. Small towns have never been portrayed more unflatteringly, nor has church life (if you can call it that). I imagine the author might have taken some flack from some members of the Black community, as Alice Walker did with The Color Purple, and Walker's book is a stroll through the rose garden compared to this one. While I'm not sure it's for everyone, since the misogyny and violence is extreme, but it's an important book, less concerned with entertaining you than with forcing you to bear witness. Bond is one hell of a writer.
    • 2/5
      I wanted to love this book, but it just didn't happen. It was written with beautiful prose, but that's it only redeeming quality. There was little to no plot and the story was extremely dark and somewhat disturbing. I wish I could have loved it for the writing alone, but with no plot to keep me motivated it was hard to pick it up and read it.
    • 4/5
      With its own brand of religious fervor, the Black community of Liberty Texas has always turned its back on anyone different, especially women and Ruby in particular. Women in this novel are victims many times over; Ruby has been sexually abused and sold into prostitution since she was six; Efraim's mother was too smart and sensitive for her husband (the devil in disguise) to tolerate. Beginning in the 30's when Ruby and Efraim are children, this novel tells the story of what happens in the 60's when Efraim bursts out of his shell to befriend Rubyin spite of her insanity, his sister's forbidding, and the community's sometimes violent persuasion. The magic surrounding Ruby makes the narrative both rich and confusing at times. Reminiscent of Toni Morrison.
    • 5/5
      This book will definitely stay with the reader. It reminded me of a few other authors that I read and reread. This book speaks to so many current situations. I think many of the characters are composites of real people. A gripping read indeed.
    • 4/5
      This is an Early Review edition of the novel, "Ruby". I think Cynthia Bond is a wonderful writer. Her use of language and phrasing were lovely! This is a haunting tale set in rural Texas. Two exquisitely sensitive young people are traumatized as children and then find one another as adults. Despite the religious and social roadblocks they encounter, they realize their love. This is not the Hatfields and McCoys, nor is it Romeo and Juliet. This story is uniquely its own in a manner which is mystical, loving, and somehow rings deeply true. There is sexual violence which is difficult to bear, but the core of this story is about love, and that makes the difference between too much and just right!
    • 4/5
      Bond's Ruby centers around characters whose lives are littered with the many violences accompanying racism, prejudice, and extremist thought. With legacies of violence and misunderstanding dictating paths forward, the novel is somewhat predictable, frightening as it is, but Bond's writing and level of detail manage to make the read a new experience, despite familiar landscapes. As quickly as the book reads, though, it may be that Bond pulled together too many trails of plot together in this one work, with depth and characterization suffering some as a result, lovely as the writing is.Readers should be warned ahead of time, though, that Bond takes this novel to darker (and more detailed) territories than even the jacket blurb or the above notes suggest, integrating both devil worship and forced prostitution into the overall plot. These aspects end up overtaking the more subtle (and more widely realistic?) themes of the novel, making it a more memorable read, but also one which may end up suffering for their inclusion.Bond's writing, however, is something like a meshing of the poetry of Morrison and the clear plotting and plain-spoken characters of Gaines, and as a result the writing is compelling. Much as I think Bond tried to bring together too many ideas in order to make her story ring as something new, the dark twists of the novel do work to drive the narrative.In the end, it's hard to know what to make of this novel. It is far less subtle than works by writers such as Morrison and Gaines, but then again, the horror of what is not so widely realistic here pales in comparison to the horrors that are realistic...and, as a result, the novel ends up being surprisingly powerful for such a fast read.Recommended for mature readers who are ready for a darker story than what the book blurb suggests.
    • 4/5
      Wonderfully written. The history of abuse throughout Ruby's life is haunting and tragic. This book shows the power of love and the great ability one has to constantly fight the demons,
    • 5/5
      This is a book I have returned to over and over in my mind. The images are haunting and the characters affecting. Ruby Bell's and Ephram Jennings's lives intertwine through time in this highly non-linear story. In the book we spend time seeing the world from each perspective, but I don't think the world they know is the same as mine. The mystery and magic that surrounds their lives seems more appropriate in a swampy Mississippi town off the big river, rather than in the small East Texas town of Liberty.Ruby and Ephram are both disturbed by demons, both real and magical. They suffer from the oppression of fundamentalist religion and the requirement of the time to fit into preconceived patterns and categories. Each finds love early, but since that type of love was forbidden, they bear the scars of society's response. Ephram lives his adult life within the constraints imposed by his older sister, who raised him and is seeking her own redemption as the leading woman of their church. Ruby was moved around from place to place, experiencing unfathomable degradation at the hands of men and women and then the ignominy of being a victim of sexual crimes. Ephram uses the possibility of Ruby's love as a coping mechanism while Ruby only exists by communing with her children in the earth.It has been some months since I finished this book, but I opened it up to my dogeared pages looking for a quote to include above, and I found the images rushing back to me. This is a book that I will keep on the shelf and pull out from time to time to revisit the complex lives of Ruby and Ephram and wonder what happened after the end. I want to read again Ephram's selfless acts and escape and Ruby's perseverance despite unspeakable terrors.