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A young woman in a poor Illinois town tells the story of her hard life
1988Slow paceMelancholic
What it is about
Ruth May Soames grows up in a small town in Illinois with a distant mother and a quiet life. She marries a violent man, and the story follows what happens to her.
Who will enjoy it
Readers who like quiet literary novels.
What you will get
An Oprah’s Book Club pick and a debut.
The Book of Ruth Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Literary Fiction · Small town · Family · Hardship
Length
328 pages · ≈ 9 h
More about this book
Characters
Ruth May Soames and her mother.
Setting
A small Midwestern town.
What makes it different
A quiet, painful novel told in plain language.
Feel
Spare, sad and quiet.
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