Iris and Ruby - Hardcover

Rosie Thomas

3.9

3,064 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007173539 ISBN 13: 9780007173532

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2006

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Bestselling author Rosie Thomas will not fail to delight old and new fans alike, with her stunning new novel Iris and Ruby. Set in the surrounds of Cairo, Iris and Ruby is a stirring story of family relationships spanning three generations. Fragility and forgetfulness have left 82-year-old Iris vulnerable and in the care of her manservant, Mamdooh. Stiflingly quiet and claustrophobic, Iris's Cairo house is suddenly disturbed by the unexpected arrival of her troubled and wilful granddaughter, Ruby, who, labouring under a fraught relationship with her family, has run away from England to seek solace with the grandmother she hasn't seen for many years. An unlikely bond arises as the two women open themselves up to one another and Ruby helps Iris document her deteriorating memories of the vibrant life she enjoyed in Cairo during World War Two, a time when she lost her heart to her one true love-the enigmatic Captain Xan Molyneux-and then lost him to the ravages of the war. This early devastation of Iris's heart precipitated a disastrously compensatory marriage and the birth of Ruby's mother, thus shaping the lives of all three women. It is the need to recover Iris's past and solidify Ruby's present that leads the two women into terrible danger in the Egyptian desert. With skilfully intertwined narratives, written from the points of view of both Iris and Ruby, Rosie Thomas has created a characteristically atmospheric novel, rich and alive with descriptions of the bustling streets of Cairo and the vast, foreboding desert surrounding it. A highly moving story spanning three generations of one family.

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About the Author:

Rosie Thomas is the author of a number of celebrated novels, including the bestsellers Sun at Midnight, Iris and Ruby and Constance. Once she was established as a writer and her children were grown, she discovered a love of travelling and mountaineering. She has climbed in the Alps and the Himalayas, competed in the Peking to Paris car rally, spent time on a tiny Bulgarian research station in Antarctica and travelled the silk road through Asia. She lives in London.

Review:

Praise for Rosie Thomas: 'Rosie Thomas writes with beautiful, effortless prose, and shows a rare compassion and a real understanding of the nature of love.' The Times 'Honest and absorbing, Rosie Thomas mixes the bitter and the hopeful with the knowledge that the human heart is far more complicated than any rule suggests.' Mail on Sunday 'Thomas's novels are beautifully written. This one is a treat.' Marie Claire

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