2.5
Ruby
ByPublisher Description
Named as one of '50 Writers You Should Read Now' by The Guardian. From the award-winning author of The Rift, Nina Allan, this early story-cycle explores the lives touched on by the enigmatic, elusive figure of Ruby Castle.
Multi-award-winning author Nina Allan takes us on a journey exploring the elliptical nature of time and place, and in precise and beautiful prose explores the very nature of storytelling.
The story of Ruby Castle is told in snapshots and fleeting glimpses and secret histories, in tales repeated and reinvented by those who fall under the horror film actress's spell: her childhood sweetheart; an antiquarian bookseller with a passion for magical artefacts; the mistress of the poet who was once Castle's lover; a young girl in a future Russia who dreams of the stars.
As worlds collide, the boundaries between the real and the fantastic begin to break down. Is Ruby Castle a living person or a collective fantasy? By the time the final page of Ruby is turned, the world that Castle created through her films has become dangerously indistinguishable from our own.
Multi-award-winning author Nina Allan takes us on a journey exploring the elliptical nature of time and place, and in precise and beautiful prose explores the very nature of storytelling.
The story of Ruby Castle is told in snapshots and fleeting glimpses and secret histories, in tales repeated and reinvented by those who fall under the horror film actress's spell: her childhood sweetheart; an antiquarian bookseller with a passion for magical artefacts; the mistress of the poet who was once Castle's lover; a young girl in a future Russia who dreams of the stars.
As worlds collide, the boundaries between the real and the fantastic begin to break down. Is Ruby Castle a living person or a collective fantasy? By the time the final page of Ruby is turned, the world that Castle created through her films has become dangerously indistinguishable from our own.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities10 Reviews
2.5
Sage Donaldson
Created about 1 month agoShare
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“This book is really a series of short stories with obscure connecting details. the synopsis for the book makes it sound as if Ruby is a main plot point with in this, when in reality the character is barely in it. I think if this was described as some spooky short stories it would have been a better read.
Every story is also from a man's perspective and is always somewhat sexualizing or glorifying women. There's so many mentions of "hard ones" and men leaving their wives/women in their lives because they are infatuated by these other women. There's one story that is way over sexualized and includes some kind of gross sex scenes. That was the most frustrating part honestly.
There are some elements of Syfy and spooky-ness that is entertaining! The time travel post WW2 chapter is really good and the first chapter is somewhat entertaining as well, but there's not much pay off and the book end so randomly. It is a very English book, and I am American so maybe there are references I miss or maybe some elements of British culture.”Towriteisright
Created 12 months agoShare
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annabellac_
Created 12 months agoShare
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Mik
Created about 1 year agoShare
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“2.75
I enjoyed a number of the stories. A number of others I found myself to be disinterested in.”
“1.5
I learned more about everyone and their mamma than Ruby Castle”
About Nina Allan
Nina Allan's debut novel The Race was shortlisted for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the BSFA Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle. Her follow-up The Rift won the BSFA Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle. She has won the BSFA Award for Short Fiction, the Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire, and the Aeon Award. She has been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award four times and was a finalist for the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award. She blogs at ninaallan.co.uk.
Other books by Nina Allan
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