by Kaye Gibbons
First published 1989
Ruby Stokes has been dead four months when Jack finds himself eating frozen green peas he never would have touched before. The wealthy daughter and the penniless tenant farmer came from opposite worlds in rural North Carolina, but they built something strong together. Now Jack faces life without her while Ruby's voice still speaks from beyond death. Their alternating accounts reveal how two people from different backgrounds navigated their relationship with their landlord's family and drew strength from each other through hardship. Jack's rough humor and Ruby's refined perspective weave together to show what their marriage really meant. The story moves between their separate histories and their shared struggles, building toward the truth of what they created together and what Jack must carry forward alone.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: alternating-perspectives, enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: North Carolina, Rural North Carolina
Period: 20th Century
128 pages · Hardcover · Algonquin Books