Ruby Among Us by Tina Forkner

Sometimes, the key that unlocks your future lies in someone else’s past…

Set in the lush vineyards of present and past Sonoma Valley, Ruby Among Us weaves a story of three generations of women and the memory that binds their hearts together. Journey with Lucy as she searches for a heritage long buried with her mother, Ruby, in this stirring tale of remembrance and redemption.

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A couple of years ago I stood in the women's restroom at Denver International Airport. I was with a bunch of my writing cronies and we jabbered on as we writers are wont to do, excited to board the plane and head for the American Christian Fiction Writer's annual conference.

A beautiful blond (whose picture I was unable to easily access via the Internet or I'd have posted one) approached us. She smiled her disarming smile and tentatively asked, "Are you all with the American Christian Fiction Writers?"

There was much hullabaloo and hugs all around as we met Tina Forkner. Tina instantly won our hearts and when I found out her first novel had been contracted by WaterBrook Press, I waited eagerly for a chance to read it.

Ruby Among Us arrived in the mail a few weeks ago and I devoured it. Tina's beautiful, descriptive writing, sympathetic character, and delightful, redemptive ending kept me spellbound . . . and when I finally turned the last page and had to lay the book aside, I first clutched it to my chest and had a good, long cry.

The pace of Ruby Among Us might begin a little slow for readers of trade fiction, but not for me. I enjoyed lingering over the story, wondering at the secrets that Lucy's mother and grandmother had kept from her, and journeying with Lucy as she unlocked the past she couldn't remember, the past not even her deceased mother fully understood. I especially enjoyed the later parts of the story when Lucy's discoveries led her to the lush vineyards of the Sonoma valley. Tina's descriptions were so lovely I longed to travel there in real life and experience it with my eyes, not just my imagination. The setting provided the perfect place for Tina's redemptive, beautiful ending.

I can't begin to unpack the themes of this book for you, I can only tell you that they ran deep in my heart, haunting me long after I reluctantly closed the book. Ruby Among Us is one of those rare books that will always dwell in a sweet place inside of me. I don't fully understand its impact, and I don't think I would share it if I did, for it reached into a private place inside of me that I hold mostly to myself. I will tell you that there are themes of family, of grace, of forgiveness, and undying love. There is one character (I won't tell you which one!) who is larger than life and only believable when seen as a metaphor for Christ. But if you catch that symbolism this character's life can profoundly impact your own by reaching inside and convincing you of the heart of the Bridegroom.

Well done, Tina. A powerful first novel.