Ruby, by Cynthia Bond. A reminder. 5 stars

Ruby by Cynthia Bond captures all the mysticism and magic of the Creole south, bringing characters to life who seem to have suffered too much.  Reading the novel, with its repeated rapes, murders and hauntings makes the reader get the same sense… it’s just too much.  I think that is the point… black people living in the uneducated rural superstitious south in the fifties didn’t get a break, and so readers don’t either.  It isn’t pretty, it isn’t comfortable, but it feels important.

Ephram Jennings never gets a break.  He is targeted by the hellfire Christians of his community from the beginning.  Even his father, who by day plays at being the community Preacher but by night courts the devil and the power of the darkness.  We don’t know Ephram’s father’s entire story, but we know enough to fear him, and to find no redemption for him.  He’s a victim of the time, to be sure, but his misogyny makes everything he does suspect and terrible.  The only thing the reader hates about his death by lynching is when poor Ephram finds him, and then we fear for Ephram, as his Daddy looms over him even dead.

And Ruby: what to think of Ruby.  She’s sold into prostitution at seven, she’s brutalized and terrorized even through pregnancy at 14, and when she escapes to NYC with her “tip money,” she can earn her keep the only way she’s ever been taught.  We know when she is a little girl that she’s different, a soul open to spirits of the unjustly murdered, especially children, all her life.  Outsiders see her as crazy, but the reader soon learns the logic of the haunting and just hopes for some peace for this girl.  It seems the spirits, and the demon Ruby hides them from will destroy her.

Taking the boldest steps of his life, Ephram tries to bring Ruby the peace she so desperately needs, and his compassion and love helps the reader to bear all the tragedy this woman, and this man, endure.    

The experience of the black population, especially in these backwoods, southern communities, where the likes of the KKK were born, where moonshine and brimstone hold hands, and where women, the pillars of the community are so easily knocked down by their men simply for being female, mirrors their survival on sheer will and the power of love, and ultimately, for standing up to fight for what they believe.  Those beliefs are powerful, magical and alive through this book.   It’s great to see a new voice keeping the plea for humanity alive, even if it is painful. In 2015, it is a reminder of where our society has been that we need. Like Toni Morrison's Beloved, or Barbara Kingsolver's Poisonwood Bible, you may hate reading parts of this book, but the excellent writing and storytelling will draw you to the end.

More info about Ruby: http://www.randomhouse.com/book/234305/ruby-by-cynthia-bond

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."