Through a Ruby Window: A Martha's Vineyard Childhood

At once funny, tender, and wise, these stories transport the readers to their own metaphorical islands. 

"Before geography lessons and off-island travel enlightened us, we children assumed that all people lived as we did. We thought the world was made up of islands, each having its own merry-go-round. What a pity we were wrong.” So begins this collection of fifteen beautiful stories, each a window into Susan Klein's distinctive experience growing up on Martha's Vineyard.

The island was then a sleepy community animated by the annual Bass and Bluefish Derby with its exaggerated fishing lore, full-day beach parties where family buried barrels of hot rocks, sausage, linguica, onions and seaweed in the sand to steam cook―and the nation's oldest merry-go-round, a creaking wonder of murals, glitter, and brass rings. In one story young Susan packs coffee and sugar with her mother to send to relatives in Germany while learning about life in the old country. In another, she walks barefoot through a raging thunderstorm with eccentric Aunt Fanny. 

Susan Klein Bio: 

Susan Klein is noted for a variety of presentations. She tours her one-woman shows internationally in theaters, at conferences, and at special events. Her highly acclaimed storytelling and memoir writing workshops are held annually on Martha's Vineyard and around the nation and in Europe. Susan's substantial repertoire includes selections from the world body of folklore and myth, literary stories, rites of passage and love stories for adults of all ages. Her autobiographical material encompasses growing up on Martha's Vineyard, waitressing and teaching school and her work as an itinerant storyteller in Alaskan Yup'ik Eskimo villages in the Kuskokwim Delta.