Ruby: A Novel

“[A] mesmerizing alchemy of fairy-tale fantasy and Hollywood glitz. . . about an L.A. nanny who uses magic to land the hunk of her dreams.” —PeopleFrom the beloved author of Necklace of Kisses comes a modern-day fairy tale of a willful and intuitive heroine and a world of shocking realism and transcendent magicFrancesca Lia Block, with co-writer Carmen Staton, introduces readers to Ruby, a Midwestern girl named for the jewel that is believed to ward off evil spirits. Ruby's special gift is a sixth sense that makes her at one with nature and gives her the ability to know her own destiny.After growing up in an abusive family, Ruby escapes to Los Angeles and learns of her soulmate -- Orion -- a British actor. She travels to England, where she works at a potions and herbs shop, and through a series of coincidental circumstances, ends up nursing Orion back to health without confessing that she has been on a quest to find him all along. But just when she thinks her dream is becoming a reality, Ruby is stopped in her tracks by the violent demons of her past. Only by facing the darkness together can she and Orion finally fulfill their destiny.In Ruby, readers will find a story about the power of our minds to overcome the past and ultimately change the course of our lives.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. YA author Block (the Weetzie Bat books) collaborates on a novel yet maintains her trademarks: fairy tale simplicity combined with wrenching emotional realism, served with a hefty side of over-the-top romance. It's told mostly from the perspective of premonition-prone Ruby, who, along with her sister, Opal, grows up terrorized by a chillingly abusive father while their loving but eerily passive mother looks on. Interspersed throughout are vignettes from the life of a British boy named Orion Woolf, who grows up with a kind but deceitful sorceress mother, Isabelle, and blooms into dangerous beauty. Ruby, seeking solace from a bad relationship, moves to Los Angeles and works as a nanny for a movie producer whose film stars Orion, who has become an Orlando Bloomesque star. Instantly smitten, Ruby buys a plane ticket to England, where she traipses through a psychedelic London, lands in Orion's ultra-bucolic hometown, finds a job in Isabelle's magic shop and hones her innate powers. When a badly ailing Orion comes home to hide from the world, Ruby uses her gifts to nurse him back to health—though, as her intensifying flashbacks to the horrors of her childhood gradually reveal, she may be even more in need of healing. (July 3) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–This is a lovely, lyrical story of a young woman who does her best to overcome an abusive past and live the happily-ever-after fairy tale. Ruby leaves the Midwest for L.A. and is employed as a nanny when she finds that life, while good, could be so much more if only she could be with the love of her life, an actor named Orion. She goes to England to find his family and to see if she can meet him. Patience and planning put Ruby at the right place at the right time. Alternating voices and a realistic but experimental style, sparked with magic ritual and spells, elevate the story from ordinary to extraordinary. Ruby's point of view shifts from first to second to third person, mirroring flashbacks that reveal the essence of who she is and emphasizing her mystical connection to her soul mate. In contrast, Orion's point of view stays grounded firmly in third person. Ruby discovers that while you can leave the past behind, it will never leave you alone unless you confront it. Teens who like Block's work may miss the urban punk edginess of her Shangri-LA books, but this collaboration will definitely draw new readers with its tempered, yet recognizable, style.–Charli Osborne, Oxford Public Library, MI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Magic is such a staple of Block's young-adult books that it's no surprise to find it front and center in this adult novel. Block and coauthor Staton center the tale on twentysomething Ruby, who has always had what she calls "a knowing." And when she sees a young actor named Orion in a movie, she magically knows they are meant to be together. So certain is she that she flies to England to find him, and--it being a magical world--she does. But this is hardly the end of the story, for magic isn't always good. And there are dark demons in Ruby's past that may destroy her heart's desire. Block fans will recognize a lot of familiar themes here: the inextricable interrelationship of love and magic; the sacredness of the natural world; characters who, as children, were sexually abused or otherwise betrayed by adults. As always, the magic is truly magical, and the emotions are never less than deeply and honestly felt. What this reader wants to know, though, is how much of Orion is based on real-life actor Orlando Bloom! Michael CartCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

People

“Women weaned on young-adult author Block’s mesmerizing alchemy of fairy-tale fantasy and Hollywood glitz will fall under the spell of this grown-up romance, about an L.A. nanny who uses magic to land the hunk of her dreams.”

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Block collaborates on a novel yet maintains her trademarks: fairytale simplicity combined with wrenching emotional realism, served with a hefty side of over-the-top romance.”

Booklist

“Block fans will recognize a lot of familiar themes here: the inextricable interrelationship of love and magic; the sacredness of the natural world; characters who, as children, were sexually abused or otherwise betrayed by adults. As always, the magic is truly magical, and the emotions are never less than deeply and honestly felt.”

Los Angeles Times

“As irresistibly smooth and refreshing as ice cream.”

From the Back Cover

From the beloved author of Necklace of Kisses comes a modern-day fairy tale of a willful and intuitive heroine and a world of shocking realism and transcendent magic. Francesca Lia Block, this time with co-writer Carmen Staton, introduces readers to Ruby, a Midwestern girl named for the jewel that is believed to ward off evil spirits. Ruby's special gift is a sixth sense that makes her at one with nature and gives her the ability to know her own destiny. After growing up in an abusive family, Ruby escapes to Los Angeles and learns of her soulmate -- Orion -- a British actor. She travels to England, where she works at a potions and herbs shop, and through a series of coincidental circumstances, ends up nursing Orion back to health without confessing that she has been on a quest to find him all along. But just when she thinks her dream is becoming a reality, Ruby is stopped in her tracks by the violent demons of her past. Only by facing the darkness together can she and Orion finally fulfill their destiny. As with Necklace of Kisses, Block, here with Staton, breaks the mold. In Ruby, readers will find a story about the power of our minds to overcome the past and ultimately change the course of our lives.

About the Author

Francesca Lia Block, winner of the prestigious Margaret A. Edwards Award, is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling books, including Weetzie Bat; the book collections Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books and Roses and Bones: Myths, Tales, and Secrets; the illustrated novella House of Dolls; the vampire romance novel Pretty Dead; and the gothic werewolf novel The Frenzy. Her work is published around the world.

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