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Vendor
Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus
Original language
English

RUBY & ROLAND

Faith Sullivan

Jane Eyre set in the prairies: Friendship, romance and one woman's journey to selfhood.

Growing 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 penniless and nearly alone in the world. Her new path eventually takes her to Harvester, where she is 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.

At a historical moment when young women are expected to be focused on courtship and marriage, 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: “the most beautiful man?maybe in the world.” 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.

Jane Eyre set in Faith Sullivan's “reliably inviting world” (Wall Street Journal), Ruby & Roland is a story of relationships?friendship, romance, and the families we are born with and create?and of one woman's journey of selfhood on the prairie.

Faith Sullivan is the author of many novels, including Gardenias, The Cape Ann, What a Woman Must Do, and, most recently, Good Night, Mr. Wodehouse. A “demon gardener, flea marketer, and feeder of birds,” she is also an indefatigable champion of literary culture and her fellow writers, and has visited with hundreds of book clubs.
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Published 2019-09-01 by Milkweed Editions

Comments

“Strong women, great sex scenes, and beautiful writing. Welcome back to Harvester, Minnesota! I love this book.” ?Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members “It is a joy to return to Harvester and the beloved characters of Faith Sullivan. Once again, Sullivan takes readers on a journey to the Midwest that is a love song to the earth, the power of community, and the importance of literature in expanding one's horizons. Ruby and Roland share a forbidden love that alters the course of their destiny, as well as the fate of the members of their ad-hoc family. Bound by the love of the land and their love of each other, Ruby and Roland's story makes the reader ‘live on hope.' What a beautiful tale for our times.” ?Pamela Klinger-Horn, Excelsior Bay Books

"Unforgettable . . . The path [Ruby] chooses is unpredictable, unconventional, and fiercely her own. Fans of Sullivan's Harvester novels and resilient female characters will find much to love here."

"Fans of Jane Eyre will adore the intelligent, brazen Ruby whose combination of pragmatism and besottedness is winningly sympathetic. Replete with agrarian nostalgia and crisp prose, Sullivan's quiet tale is a wonderful, arresting meditation on sacrifice." (starred review)

"Rapturous . . . The joyful sense of community within this love story offers a charming and refreshing escape from the modern world."

"Sullivan creates a story worthy of comparison to Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome. Recommended for historical and women's fiction fans."