Ruby Among Us is a novel about love, forgiveness, and understanding involving a grandmother and granddaughter. The granddaughter, Lucy is eight years old when she begins telling her story, starting with the death of her mother Ruby.
Because she is so young when Ruby dies, Lucy struggles to remember her and is bursting with questions, but her grandmother Kitty is reluctant to answer. Lucy's anger is understandable, as is Kitty's fear. Years of painful secrets and unanswered questions lead Lucy on the journey that will transform her life.
The author captures the pain of losing a mother. “The hole my mother had left grew as deep as the lake in which Kitty had tried to teach me to swim. I'd felt myself sinking into the dark water and I was sure I was drowning.”
The writing is so vivid I felt if I inhaled hard enough I'd be able to smell the roses described in the garden Ruby created and Lucy would later inherit.The beauty of the roses surround much heartbreak and uncertainty but represent all that is loved, remembered and for some, forgotten.The author carefully handles the pain Kitty feels after a traumatic event changes her life forever, revealing the details a little at a time to help flesh out her fears and reason for holding back information from Lucy. Forkner's words reflect reality in the way Kitty reacts to trauma, and later how the truth leads to her healing. It's a story that expresses some fears many will find familiar.
Ruby Among Us takes the reader on a bittersweet journey filled with hurt, loss, shame and forgiveness. The writing is very fluid and the emotions expressed feel genuine that the reader will forget Lucy and Kitty are just characters in a novel.
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