A review by bartendm
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton

4.0

This was a hard book to enjoy, and I almost stopped reading it near the beginning, but I'm glad I kept going. It took me a while to get into the mind of Ruth, even though it was told in the first person. Ruth and her mother are very poor in a poor town with little prospects. But they are definitely on the low end of society in their corner of the world, despite both working. Neither character is likeable or like each other, but they are stuck with each other and dependent on each other in myriad ways. In the midst of their joint misery, Ruth observes little things in their country home in the most poetic way and you see that she has little joys in her life. She falls for a young man with serious self-esteem and mental health issues, but who also manages to manipulate Ruth and her mother so that he doesn't work and barely helps around the house. It is an unhealthy triad, with competition over the new baby added into the mix. As you might imagine, it does not go well. Hamilton made these dysfunctional people believable and complex and although you would never want to live anything like they did, it is enriching to have been on this journey with Ruth.