#Spooktober ‘Ruby’ by Nina Allan

About the book….

Ruby tells the story of Ruby Castle told in snapshots and fleeting glimpses and secret histories, in tales repeated and reinvented by those who fall under the horror film actress’s spell: her childhood sweetheart, an antiquarian bookseller with a passion for magical artifacts, the mistress of the poet who was once Castle’s lover, a young girl in a future Russia who dreams of the stars.

Worlds collide, and the boundaries between the real and the fantastic begin to break down. Is Ruby Castle a living person or a collective fantasy?

By the time the final page of Ruby is turned, the world that Castle created through her films has become dangerously indistinguishable from our own

‘Ruby’, out now and published by Titan, existed in another form previous to this one, as a collection of random stories named ‘Stardust’

Here, for the first time, this revised and updated edition shows Ruby how she is meant to be read…or does it?

This is a brilliant, searching book which takes speculative fiction, rips up the rule books and resets the clock with 7 interwoven tales that will absorb and compel you to keep reading to the last word, no matter how late the hour.

It takes the perception of the reader, from the cover and the title, and completely tramples on them for Ruby moves through the pages of this novel as a concept. Mere glimpses of her are afforded, apart from in one tale, she moves behind the lines as a haunting notion who exists in the minds of those who saw her films and those who read about her.

Each tale is a self contained world which brings first and third person narrators through chess games, funfairs, a travelling circus and so much more. And as you read, you are slwoly absorbed into this world that Ruby inhabits where more is known about her than she herself can say. It makes you think about how people talk about each other, how we perceive those-especially in the public eye-and pick an affinity to some, even as others revile you.

The legend which has grown up around Ruby concerns the murder of her husband, a crime for which she is imprisoned, and which has been speculated against ever since. This much you glean from tale number one, ‘B-Side‘, where a young boy has harsh lessons to learn on his way home from a chess match. He watches all the films she is in and gives the reader their first glimpse of Ruby as a film idol, a beloved horror film actress.

After that, she appears in various guises, glimpsed through the lens of the narrator’s perceptions until, by the end, you have your very own idea of who, or what she means to you. It is an incredible feat of story telling with a genius cover design, that turns what you expect on its head whilst giving you so much more. Each story is haunting, lyrical and stranded through with horror in the form of ghosts, folk tales, legends and speculation. Each has a layer to add to Ruby’s story and when it is done, you are left bereft for the experience that has now passed into memory. But never fear, there are more stories to be read by Nina if  indeed this is your first. And you can always return to page one and start over again….

About the author…

Nina Allan’s debut novel ‘The Race’ was shortlisted for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, the BSFA Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle. Her follow-up ‘The Rift’ won the BSFA Award and the Kitschies Red Tentacle. She has won the BSFA Award for Short Fiction, the Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, and the Aeon Award. She has been shortlisted for the British Fantasy Award four times and was a finalist for the 2014 Shirley Jackson Award.

Links-http://www.ninaallan.co.uk/

Twitter @TitanBooks