Ruby & Roland: A Novel

Synopsis

“Rapturous . . . The joyful sense of community within this love story offers a charming and refreshing escape from the modern world.” —Kirkus ReviewsGrowing up in early twentieth-century Illinois, Ruby Drake is a happy child. But one winter’s night, her beloved parents perish in an accident—and suddenly Ruby finds herself destitute and nearly alone in the world. Her new path eventually takes her to Harvester, Minnesota, where she’s lucky enough to find work on the welcoming Schoonover farm. Kind Emma, forward-thinking Henry, and their hired men—ambitious Dennis and reserved Jake—soon become a second family to the orphaned teenager.Young women are expected to be focused on courtship and marriage, but the industrious, bright Ruby searches for opportunities to expand her horizons at every step. Mastering her responsibilities on the farm. Learning to smoke cigarettes. Borrowing books from the local lending library, reading devotedly and expansively: mythology, romance, poetry. And falling in love with her married neighbor, Roland. But when Ruby is asked to care for Roland’s wife in the wake of tragedy, she is torn between duty and passion, between what has been her lot and what could be, in this story of friendship, romance, and the families we are born with and create—and of one woman’s journey of selfhood on the prairie.“Her novels are a reliably inviting world, full of friendly faces and intimate dramas. However you first make your way to Harvester, you’ll want to return.” —The Wall Street Journal

Copyright:

2019

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

Book Size:

256 Pages

ISBN-13:

9781571319968

Related ISBNs:

9781571311320

Publisher:

Milkweed Editions

Date of Addition:

01/19/25

Copyrighted By:

Text by Faith Sullivan

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

History, Literature and Fiction

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.