According to Ruth
Published on 1. May 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-0-09-950612-6 (ISBN)
Description
It is 1979 and in a ramshackle cottage in Northumberland fifteen-year-old Ruth is desperate to leave behind the gradual implosion of her parents' marriage as she pursues her own quest for love and excitement. Fantasies about the son of the local farmer offer a temporary distraction from the rising tensions at home but Ruth soon discovers that the family are coming to terms with a very different tragedy...Told largely from the darkly humorous perspective of Ruth, Jane Feaver's novel is an engaging and profound insight into the relationships within families and the nature of love and loss, of grief and grieving.
Reviews / Votes
"Poetic and perceptive, Feaver has delivered a raw account of martial disintegration and its bruising after effects" Guardian "Jane Feaver's debut novel is an emotionally accurate portrayal... She has nailed the relationships between the children precisely and with humour" -- Lisa Gee Independent "This is a first novel of extraordinary intelligence and charm ... It's a bleak enough narrative, but also extremely funny" The Times "An intimate portrait of a bohemian family in the sticks - great stuff" -- Blake Morrison Guardian "This is a memorable debut - and a confident book...There are no easy laughs, no sentimentality. Feaver is witty and inventive. Above all, she is sufficiently daring to allow truth and memory freedom to shape scenes that convince. The choreography is seamless, each character lives off the page and the narrative is an inevitable as it is unpredictable" -- Eileen Battersby Irish TimesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
158 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-950612-6 (9780099506126)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Jane Feaver was born in Durham in 1964. After reading English at university she worked at the Pitt Rivers Museum and then in the Poetry Department at Faber and Faber. In 2001 she moved to Devon with her daughter. Her second novel, Love Me Tender, was met with critical acclaim.