Ruby's Spoon

(Paperback)

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Description

Ruby's Spoon is a bold and bewitching debut set in the industrial Black Country of the 1930s. Anna Lawrence Pietroni's fiercely charismatic heroine blazes the arrival of a mesmerising new literary talent. This is the tale of three women - one witch, one mermaid and one missing - and how Ruby was caught up in between. The Black Country town of Cradle Cross - home to buttonmakers, canal folk, and more than its share of widows - is bounded by canals, grief and superstition. Caught within this web is motherless thirteen-year-old Ruby, who dreams of escaping the soot and smoke of her home-town for the clear air of the sea. When a mysterious stranger named Isa Fly appears on a quest to find her dying father's missing wife and daughter, Ruby is enchanted. But some of the townsfolk are instantly suspicious of the outsider and when Ruby introduces Isa to Truda Blick, the bluestocking graduate who has just inherited the town's button factory, the town is pushed to the brink of riot. Only Ruby knows enough to save them. But first she must save herself.

Reviews

A spirited and adventurous writer, Pietroni loves words and takes joy in story-telling... As well as dark secrets, concealed hatreds, ambiguous identities and tormented relationships, it is about a child in need of parents * Independent *
A charismatic coming-of-age tale glimmering with dark magic, lost families and closely guarded secrets * Marie Claire *
One of the best first novels I have ever read * Susan Hill *
[A] grown up fairy tale... replete with folklore, revelling in character and dialect * Guardian *
This enthralling, suspenseful debut novel...has the feel of a grim fairy tale. Of the many riches it offers, is the winning lead character...who will capture readers' hearts * Booklist (starred review) *

Author Bio

Anna Lawrence Pietroni was born and brought up in the Black Country. She gained a degree in English from Oxford University. She worked in the prison service and was training to be a prison governor before she turned to writing full-time. Ruby's Spoon is her first novel. Anna Lawrence Pietroni lives in Oxford.