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Ruby: A Novel
A grieving young widow and a pregnant teenager find an uncommon friendship in a luminous, deeply moving novel
After a college student speeding in a blue Honda Civic kills her husband of less than a year, Olivia is completely lost. One hot summer day, she walks into the beachfront Rhode Island cottage she and David bought the previous August—the place where they had planned to someday start a family—and finds a stranger sitting at her kitchen table.
Pregnant fifteen-year-old Ruby is looking for a safe haven for herself and her baby-to-be. Olivia takes her in, desperate to assuage her grief through human connection, even with a troubled teenager. But Ruby has something else that Olivia wants. When she agrees to let Olivia adopt her unborn child, Olivia’s life begins to change in ways she never imagined.
A story of love, loss, and unexpected friendship, Ruby introduces two women who help each other move on with their lives in a world where there are no easy answers.
After a college student speeding in a blue Honda Civic kills her husband of less than a year, Olivia is completely lost. One hot summer day, she walks into the beachfront Rhode Island cottage she and David bought the previous August—the place where they had planned to someday start a family—and finds a stranger sitting at her kitchen table.
Pregnant fifteen-year-old Ruby is looking for a safe haven for herself and her baby-to-be. Olivia takes her in, desperate to assuage her grief through human connection, even with a troubled teenager. But Ruby has something else that Olivia wants. When she agrees to let Olivia adopt her unborn child, Olivia’s life begins to change in ways she never imagined.
A story of love, loss, and unexpected friendship, Ruby introduces two women who help each other move on with their lives in a world where there are no easy answers.
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
102 people are currently reading
572 people want to read
About the author
Ann Hood
72 books1,271 followersAnn Hood is the editor of Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting and the bestselling author of The Book That Matters Most, The Knitting Circle, The Red Thread, Comfort, and An Italian Wife, among other works. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, a Best American Spiritual Writing Award, a Best American Food Writing Award, a Best American Travel Writing Award, and the Paul Bowles Prize for Short Fiction. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews
June 15, 2021
Olivia had the perfect life: fulfilling, creative work as a milliner; a place in New York City and a bolthole in Rhode Island; a new husband and plans to try for a baby right away. But then, in a fluke accident, David was hit by a car while jogging near their vacation home less than a year into their marriage. As the novel opens, 37-year-old Olivia is trying to formulate a letter to the college girl who struck and killed her husband. She has returned to Rhode Island to get the house ready to sell, but changes her mind when a pregnant 15-year-old, Ruby, wanders in one day.
At first I worried that the setup would be too neat: Olivia wants a baby but didn’t get a chance to have one with David before he died; Ruby didn’t intend to get pregnant and looks forward to getting back her figure and her life of soft drugs and petty crime. And indeed, Olivia suggests an adoption arrangement early on. But the outworkings of the plot are not straightforward, and the characters, both main and secondary (including Olivia’s magazine writer friend, Winnie; David’s friend, Rex; Olivia’s mother and sister; a local lawyer who becomes a love interest), are charming.
It’s a low-key, small-town affair reminiscent of the work of Anne Tyler, and I appreciated how it sensitively explores grief, its effects on the protagonist’s decision-making, and how daunting it is to start over (“The idea of that, of beginning again from nothing, made Olivia feel tired.”). It was also a neat touch that Olivia is the same age as me, so in some ways I could easily imagine myself into her position.
This was the ninth book I’ve read by Hood, an author little known outside of the USA. Ironically, its main themes of adoption and bereavement were to become hallmarks of her later work: she lost her daughter in 2002 and then adopted a little girl from China.
At first I worried that the setup would be too neat: Olivia wants a baby but didn’t get a chance to have one with David before he died; Ruby didn’t intend to get pregnant and looks forward to getting back her figure and her life of soft drugs and petty crime. And indeed, Olivia suggests an adoption arrangement early on. But the outworkings of the plot are not straightforward, and the characters, both main and secondary (including Olivia’s magazine writer friend, Winnie; David’s friend, Rex; Olivia’s mother and sister; a local lawyer who becomes a love interest), are charming.
It’s a low-key, small-town affair reminiscent of the work of Anne Tyler, and I appreciated how it sensitively explores grief, its effects on the protagonist’s decision-making, and how daunting it is to start over (“The idea of that, of beginning again from nothing, made Olivia feel tired.”). It was also a neat touch that Olivia is the same age as me, so in some ways I could easily imagine myself into her position.
This was the ninth book I’ve read by Hood, an author little known outside of the USA. Ironically, its main themes of adoption and bereavement were to become hallmarks of her later work: she lost her daughter in 2002 and then adopted a little girl from China.
February 20, 2018
A young woman, recently widowed and a 15 year old pregnant run away have an unlikely meeting which leads to a healing friendship for both. I was challenged to read a “sweet” book during February, so knew that the sugar level in this one would be higher than in my normal literary diet. Therefore, I can’t complain about this aspect of the story. But, I do wonder if it is possible to write a book that is both sweet and that respects the intelligence of the reader. Hood pounded the reader over the head with every bit of emotional information. Is it really necessary to remind the reader every 100 words that the young widow is jealous of her friends who are starting families or that she blames herself for her husband’s vehicular death, for example? I also did not find the teenaged Ruby a credible portrayal of adolescence. This story dragged for me. I have also read short stories by Hood and I think the confines they present work to her advantage.
April 7, 2023
Well, that’s 3 1/2 hrs I could have spent reading a book I actually enjoyed. I can’t say I liked anything about this book, the writing which seems amateur and immature, nor any of the characters. Why did I finish it, one might wonder? Only to see how the author winds up this dragged out story of a widowed 37 yr old who thinks a pregnant teen showing up in her kitchen was sent by her dead husband so she could adopt the baby. Crazy hey? Yup. Even crazier was the fact that I read it to the end.
August 11, 2022
good made me cry in parts, and in some laugh,
February 19, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up.
Olivia lost her husband in a freak accident. She has been mourning ever since. When she went to get her summer home in Rhode Island ready to sell, she found a 15 year-old pregnant girl squatting there with nowhere else to go. Olivia allows Ruby to stay with her, hoping to adopt Ruby’s baby and start a new life. The story is heartbreaking as Olivia blames herself for her husband’s death. (She absolutely wasn’t responsible.) She also struggles with how she feels about the young woman who was responsible, writing imaginary letters to her. Ruby is also struggling with trying to figure out what she wants to do with the baby and her own life.
Both Olivia and Ruby are poignantly portrayed. Your heart breaks for both of them even when Ruby acts like a stubborn, irresponsible 15-year-old.
The book is beautifully written. What I found most difficult was Olivia‘s late husband is named David, as was my own late husband, and it was hard to read about him, especially in the past tense. One scene that infuriated me was when a man who Olivia’s sister wanted to set her up with, called for a date and he told Olivia that “no wasn’t an option.” Granted, the book is set in the 90s and maybe men could get away with that attitude then, but… who the F did he think he was? If a man said that to me, I’d just hang up. She acquiesced and let him pick her up at home. At the very least she should have met him somewhere so that she could leave if she wanted to. Times certainly have changed.
The book is short but packs a punch. It may not have the ending I was expecting, but it was probably the best ending.
A definite recommend.
Olivia lost her husband in a freak accident. She has been mourning ever since. When she went to get her summer home in Rhode Island ready to sell, she found a 15 year-old pregnant girl squatting there with nowhere else to go. Olivia allows Ruby to stay with her, hoping to adopt Ruby’s baby and start a new life. The story is heartbreaking as Olivia blames herself for her husband’s death. (She absolutely wasn’t responsible.) She also struggles with how she feels about the young woman who was responsible, writing imaginary letters to her. Ruby is also struggling with trying to figure out what she wants to do with the baby and her own life.
Both Olivia and Ruby are poignantly portrayed. Your heart breaks for both of them even when Ruby acts like a stubborn, irresponsible 15-year-old.
The book is beautifully written. What I found most difficult was Olivia‘s late husband is named David, as was my own late husband, and it was hard to read about him, especially in the past tense. One scene that infuriated me was when a man who Olivia’s sister wanted to set her up with, called for a date and he told Olivia that “no wasn’t an option.” Granted, the book is set in the 90s and maybe men could get away with that attitude then, but… who the F did he think he was? If a man said that to me, I’d just hang up. She acquiesced and let him pick her up at home. At the very least she should have met him somewhere so that she could leave if she wanted to. Times certainly have changed.
The book is short but packs a punch. It may not have the ending I was expecting, but it was probably the best ending.
A definite recommend.
June 4, 2017
There is an under age girl, Ben should be on statutory rape charges for even looking at a 14 year old! Where are social services, all this girl has is a grieving woman who has a patronising mother and sister and who seems to think Ruby is her own personal broodmare.
Olivia allows this girl to rob her of what few momentoes she has of her husband because I think calling the police would have put her into the care system she desperately needed.
I had very mixed feelings as I finished it.
Olivia allows this girl to rob her of what few momentoes she has of her husband because I think calling the police would have put her into the care system she desperately needed.
I had very mixed feelings as I finished it.
June 10, 2022
Ann Hood is a real roller coaster ride for me. I like her writing style, but her books seem to have an edge, a darkness that sticks with me. I could clearly see the two main characters in this one, Ruby and Olivia. That's the mark of a good read for me. The one real criticism I have is that the dialogue spoken by a very young child in this one is totally unrealistic. All in all, an enjoyable read for the first one of 2022.
August 5, 2024
This was a book given to me by a friend. She had not read it yet so I'm not blaming her. I think this book could have been good but I was just not in the mood for this kind of book right now. It was just an ok book. It was annoying but believable how the teenager kept going back and forth on whether to give the baby up or not. Honestly, I don't think I can give a good review because I just wasn't in the mood for this book and I can't fairly judge it.
December 27, 2022
I enjoyed this book mostly. I know the grief felt by Olivia seemed to drag on and on, that is grief. You never know how and when it will strike you and may never end. Having Ruby come into Olivia's life helped her focus on someone else, especially that baby, so the grief was held at bay for a bit. It was so appalling how her family kept wanting Olivia to move on from the grief. It is hard to think they have never lost someone they loved. Some have commented on the fact a 15 year old was pregnant by an "adult" 18 or 19 year old without legal consequences. Sadly, this is not uncommon. Some families just take it as a given..I've worked social services and have been sadly informed how "consensual" it is taken in some lives.
Anyway, the entire story tugged on my heart and I kept wondering how it would end. No spoilers, read for yourself.
Anyway, the entire story tugged on my heart and I kept wondering how it would end. No spoilers, read for yourself.
July 5, 2025
After the tragic death of her husband of barely one year, Olivia, a milliner from New York City, must begin rebuilding her life. Ordinarily a vivacious and strong woman, she finds herself unable to surmount her grief...until she meets Ruby.
Young, pregnant and delinquent, Ruby trespasses and enters the seemingly uninhabited Rhode Island beach house in which Olivia and her late husband had planned to build their life together. Abandoned by her family, Ruby has no home and seems far too immature to care for the baby Olivia so strongly desires. With her eye on the adoption of the newborn, Olivia offers the rebellious teen a place to stay.
An unlikely friendship is forged as Olivia nurtures Ruby and her unborn child and experiences the daily challenges presented by a wayward teen, who may or may not teach Olivia how to live again.
Young, pregnant and delinquent, Ruby trespasses and enters the seemingly uninhabited Rhode Island beach house in which Olivia and her late husband had planned to build their life together. Abandoned by her family, Ruby has no home and seems far too immature to care for the baby Olivia so strongly desires. With her eye on the adoption of the newborn, Olivia offers the rebellious teen a place to stay.
An unlikely friendship is forged as Olivia nurtures Ruby and her unborn child and experiences the daily challenges presented by a wayward teen, who may or may not teach Olivia how to live again.
April 15, 2018
Hmmmmm
There is an under age girl, Ben should be on statutory rape charges for even looking at a 14 year old! Where are social services, all this girl has is a grieving woman who has a patronizing mother and sister and who seems to think Ruby is her own personal broodmare. Olivia allows this girl to rob her of what few memories she has of her husband, calling the police would have put her into the care system she desperately needed.
I finished it with very mixed feelings.
There is an under age girl, Ben should be on statutory rape charges for even looking at a 14 year old! Where are social services, all this girl has is a grieving woman who has a patronizing mother and sister and who seems to think Ruby is her own personal broodmare. Olivia allows this girl to rob her of what few memories she has of her husband, calling the police would have put her into the care system she desperately needed.
I finished it with very mixed feelings.
March 7, 2025
This book was hard for me to finish. I’m not a fan of any fictional romance novels—I know, call me coldhearted, but I think romance novels are a waste of time. The story starts out somewhat believable and then quickly turns into a formulaic made-for-screenplay piece of junk. The narrator mispronounced too many words and the story got unnecessarily trashy seemingly because the writer probably didn’t know how else she would keep her readers’ attention. This is not a title I will favorite.
October 10, 2025
This was interesting, I like her writing and. characters and the end was good.
My issue with it: #1 Ben should have been in big trouble bc she was underage.
#2 Twice the author disparages LPN nurses, called them bedpan scrubbers, anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to use a bedpan is very grateful for the angel who brings it and takes it away. This is such a small part of what nurses do. Shame on her for saying this, it had nothing to do with the story and did not move the story along.
My issue with it: #1 Ben should have been in big trouble bc she was underage.
#2 Twice the author disparages LPN nurses, called them bedpan scrubbers, anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to use a bedpan is very grateful for the angel who brings it and takes it away. This is such a small part of what nurses do. Shame on her for saying this, it had nothing to do with the story and did not move the story along.
December 27, 2024
Her husband died. She's sad and misses him. She wants a pregnant teenager's baby. Repeat over and over and over until the end of the book. It took me forever to get through this book - I kept starting other books, hoping to return to this one after a "break" and it would get better. No, it didn't.
August 8, 2017
My first Ann Hood book....Ruby is an interesting 14-15 pregnant girl facing all the typical issues one faces when kicked out of home, older boyfriend who is a snake, and no place to be. Wish the real story had been about Olivia who takes Ruby in and cares for her.......
July 7, 2019
I wasn't sure at first, I thought this might be too depressing. I am happy to say I was wrong, this book brings you on a gently journey through grief and redemption. Plus it's set in tow of my favorite places, NYC and RI.
January 31, 2025
(Kindle) a quick read. I’ve read two other Ann Hood books- and I felt this one did not fulfill my expectations. It felt choppy - I got a little confused sometimes when a new paragraph would start. It felt rushed. Or in need of finessing.
May 2, 2025
This had been on my shelf for awhile. I don't even know when I got it...or why. It's trite and simplistic and has several ethically questionable storylines. The main character is awfully immature for being 37 years old. The 15 year old isn't very believable. Not recommended.
June 5, 2017
Loss and love
This book couldn't have felt more real. Loved it and live that I discovered a new author (to me) to devour!
This book couldn't have felt more real. Loved it and live that I discovered a new author (to me) to devour!
October 6, 2017
Read in 1 day!
October 18, 2017
It was Ann Hood so it was good, just not as compelling as her others. All her books are supportive of women who feel left out and find their way back
January 22, 2019
Billie Letts did a much better job with similar subject matter in Where the Heart Is
January 26, 2020
3 1/2 stars
I have read quite a few of Ann Hood’s books. She is very much a women’s writer. This book was easy to read and tugged at your heart.
I have read quite a few of Ann Hood’s books. She is very much a women’s writer. This book was easy to read and tugged at your heart.
May 3, 2020
Audible
June 29, 2020
This is an early Ann Hood book & lacks the depth of her newer books,
January 15, 2021
Good Novel
Didn’t see the ending turning out that way but was more realistic. Looking forward to more from this author. Recommend!
Didn’t see the ending turning out that way but was more realistic. Looking forward to more from this author. Recommend!
May 21, 2021
I loved this book...it was a bit slow but I like that things weren’t always wrapped up in a little bow.
January 20, 2022
Good story, ended a little differently than I expected.
July 14, 2024
A compassionate story of loss and recovery. Wonderful characters.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews