Named as one of '50 Writers You Should Read Now' by The Guardian. From the award-winning author of The Rift, Nina Allan, this early novel cements her reputation as one of the most interesting contemporary speculative fiction writers.
Ruby tells the story of Ruby Castle told in snapshots and fleeting glimpses and secret histories, in tales repeated and reinvented by those who fall under the horror film actress's spell: her childhood sweetheart, an antiquarian bookseller with a passion for magical artifacts, the mistress of the poet who was once Castle's lover, a young girl in a future Russia who dreams of the stars. Worlds collide, and the boundaries between the real and the fantastic begin to break down. Is Ruby Castle a living person or a collective fantasy? By the time the final page of Ruby is turned, the world that Castle created through her films has become dangerously indistinguishable from our own.
My expectation going in based on the synopsis was that this was going to be like [b:Meet Me in Another Life|54698696|Meet Me in Another Life|Catriona Silvey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1613413224l/54698696._SY75_.jpg|73801780] where short stories built on each other and ended up leading to a conclusion - but this isn't that. It's just a short story collection where Easter eggs call back to other stories. And the stories are fine! But I just spent so long wondering how it was all going to come together that it felt like a letdown.
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26 October, 2022:
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26 October, 2022:
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