Saving Ruby King: a novel by Catherine Adel West
The evidence the officials discover, labeled the crime a home invasion. Ruby’s mother lied dead at the scene. In this Chicago black community, this was just another crime committed and marked in the books. Yet, some individuals knew exactly what had occurred behind the doors of this house throughout the years. They knew the truth. The abuse that had been silenced and buried for years was finally over and Alice was finally free from her husband, Lebanon. Ruby knew it too for she lived it, day in and day out. Alone now with her father, Ruby faces the reality that it’s just her and her abusive father.
Layla is Ruby’s friend and what a great friend she is. Although Layla was told by her father Jackson, to stay-out-of-it, Layla can’t. Jackson, a pastor of this community’s church and some members of the congregation know what Lebanon is capable of but their actions and voices are silent. Layla steps up to help Ruby providing much more than I realized she had in her.
Crossing timelines and hearing from multi-viewpoints, it took me a while to get into the flow of this book. I liked how Layla kept at Ruby, she never gave up and she questioned Ruby and didn’t preach at her constantly. I thought having all the different characters and viewpoints was interesting and made for a more-rounded book, although keeping them separate took some work, on my part. Set in Chicago, the book addresses many issues such as domestic violence, race, a church community, family and friendship. I received this book from NetGalley and Park Row in exchange for an honest opinion (a few years ago).
