Book review: Never easy, but always engaging

Liz Nugent’s new novel is not a comfortable read, but it is compelling and takes readers through a multitude of emotions and moral questions

Before becoming a novelist, Liz Nugent worked in film, theatre and television. Fle picture: Darragh Kane

• The Truth about Ruby Cooper
• Liz Nugent
• Penguin Sandycove, €15.99

Liz Nugent’s new novel tackles some really difficult issues. It is not an easy read, and it will elicit very strong emotions in readers: it will shock, make you sad, angry, even appalled at times.

Its opening sentence is: “If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.” 

That’s as powerful as the famous opening line from LP Hartley’s The Go-Between: “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” 

Nugent’s sentence captures the essence of her novel, a concise and profound observation from Ruby which is only fully understood by the reader when reaching its end.

When the novel opens, Ruby and Erin are sisters growing up in Boston in what seems to be a very close family, with an almost idyllic childhood. Ruby is 16 and Erin is two years older. 

Their father Douglas Cooper is the founder and pastor of the Holy Divine Church of the Fourth Way, with churches in other states, and he is also a very successful investment broker. 

Their mother Maureen is Irish, who suffers from homesickness, missing her native country and visiting there every year. 

Despite their mother longing to return to Ireland, the sisters have what seem to be happy and privileged lives, certainly never having to worry about money.

On the positive side, they are aware that they are privileged and that others are not. Among the latter is Milo, Erin’s boyfriend.

When Ruby is involved in an incident with Milo, it upends all their lives. Ruby moves to Dublin with their mother, while Erin stays in Boston with their father. 

The novel is narrated in turn by the sisters, and towards its conclusion by Lucy, Ruby’s daughter.

The outcome of that one event when Ruby was 16, described throughout the narrative as “the incident”, has ripples spreading out for decades, as the novel explores their lives for the following quarter of a century. 

To reveal any more about the plot would certainly spoil readers’ enjoyment.

Ruby Cooper is a character it will be difficult to forget. She is not a nice person, and it is difficult to sympathise with her, although one can bring oneself to understand why she acts as she does. 

The narrative demonstrates the corrosive effects of sibling rivalry, and how parents can fail to see the influence they may have on a young person reaching maturity while living under the shadow of expectations and demands.

The novel also explores addiction, and does so powerfully, illustrating its impact on the individual and those around them. 

Different characters in the novel suffer from a variety of addictions which makes the a book tough read for anyone affected by that issue. 

Addiction is often triggered by deep psychological trauma and the impact of a terrible event.

This is not a comfortable read, but it is compelling. It may also divide readers — raising questions about parenting, and primarily, about personal choices.

 Countering the darker elements, there is also the powerful presence of loyalty and love enduring for decades. It’s best seen positively in the characters of Erin and Jack, Ruby’s partner.

Many readers will have got to know the work of Liz Nugent through her hugely successful Strange Sally Diamond. 

This new novel again takes readers through a multitude of emotions and moral questions.

It’s a psychological thriller that is disturbing, gripping, horrifying, and shocking, and is hard to put down, even at its darkest moments.