According to Ruth

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 Times * As a portrait of a time and a place, it's pitch-perfect... Most memorable is Feaver's language - burnished and sturdily poetic, with a saving comic streak -- Hepzibah Anderson * Observer * Feaver writes almost entirely without cliche ... brilliantly conveying the multiplicity of viewpoints within a family as well as the locked-in, awkward consciousness of her characters -- Claire Allfree * Metro * This is an excellent debut. Feaver has the fluency of a fast writer, her images are original and startling...you're in for a stimulating and bumpy ride. We shall see more of her * Spectator * Built around the intertwining and often similar lives of its characters, According To Ruth offers a delicate and innocent tale of childhood as well as a moving account of failed expectations and grief -- Claire Dupuy * Belfast Telegraph *