First published 1996
Ruby Lennox's life unfolds above a pet shop in 1950s York, as she narrates her family's story across four generations. From her great-grandmother's passionate affair with a French photographer to her mother's Hollywood dreams, the Lennox women confront wars, economic hardship, and the shifting social tides of the 20th century. With sharp humor and poignant detail, Ruby paints a vivid portrait of the family's joys and sorrows, building to an emotional culmination that illuminates the enduring bonds of kinship.
Genres: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: multi-generational, unreliable-narrator
Setting: England, Yorkshire, Yorkshire (England)
Period: 1950s
332 pages · Paperback · Picador USA