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Ruby's Spoon by Anna Lawrence Pietroni

By Eithne Farry on Monday 25 January 2010

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Ruby's Spoon, by Anna Lawrence Pietroni

A charismatic coming-of-age tale glimmering with dark magic, lost families and closely guarded secrets

Pietroni's debut novel is set in England's Black Country in the 1930s. Thirteen-year-old Ruby is motherless: her family is made up of a lemon-sour grandmother, an ineffectual father and a charming chip-shop owner who acts as honorary grandad. The town is insular and poor, and Ruby is full of longing for a different kind of life. So when the mysterious Isa Fly appears on the scene, Ruby is immediately bewitched. However, the local community doesn't take too kindly to Miss Fly, and Ruby finds herself enmeshed in a net of conflicting loyalties, superstitious dread and shadowy family history.

Review by Eithne Farry

Release date: Monday 25 January 2010

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This book sounds fabulous and is getting great reviews elsewhere too.
Comment by Robin Green on January 29 06:22

I enjoyed this novel, although I had difficulty keeping track of and understanding all the various threads. the portrayal of time and place is superb, and the way dialect is treated is also successful. Ruby's Spoon is especially intriguing as a novel springing from and documenting women's experience, and has solid feminist roots.
Comment by Linda on March 15 19:03