Probably Ruby

“Probably Ruby” by Lisa Bird-Wilson
Published by Hogarth Press
Finished 4/6/23 – 3/5 stars
 
This is the story of Ruby, and her yearning to find herself.  She was adopted as an infant and then had a very troubled and dysfunctional youth (and adulthood) that made the desire to find her roots even stronger.  Plus, she was sure she was at least part Canadian Indian and wanted to know her heritage and fill the void that was always missing from her life by being raised by a white couple.
 
The way this book is put together is quite different.  Each chapter is titled with a person’s name and a year, in absolutely no chronological order whatsoever.  Essentially, each chapter is its own short story about that person’s influence on Ruby’s life.  Each person only gets one chapter titled after them, however, there are a few characters that make appearances in multiple chapters.  For example, her adoptive mother only has one chapter named for her but she is then mentioned in multiple chapters throughout the book.  Oddly enough, it doesn’t make it hard to follow along while bouncing around to different times in Ruby’s life.  I think that’s because each chapter truly feels like its own short story.
 
Whereas I do recommend this little book of just 268 pages, you have to be in a good mindset to read it.  There is nothing uplifting or cheery about this story so if you are in need of a “feel good book”, that would not be the time to read this.  It may be a depressing read, but it’s still good.
 
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