The Truth About Ruby Cooper by Liz Nugent (Penguin)

Marketing for The Truth About Ruby Cooper is all over the place. You look at the cover and think you’re getting another sharp, dark ride like Strange Sally Diamond; so did I. But that’s not what’s inside. Instead, you get a messy, sprawling family drama that starts with one bad teenage decision and ripples out for years. This isn’t a whodunnit. It’s more like, how did these two sisters, Ruby and Erin,  end up so far apart, split between Boston and Dublin after everything fell apart?

Ruby Cooper isn’t built to be loved. She’s abrasive, self-sabotaging, sometimes downright toxic to everyone around her. I’ll give Liz Nugent credit: she refuses to smooth Ruby’s edges or make her any easier to like. But honestly, sticking with Ruby for decades feels like slogging through mud. Her resentment slows down the action, and although the supporting cast provides some intrigue, the narrative never takes up enough speed from the past and instead spends too much time mired in the agony of the present.

At its core, the book is really about how strict religion and buried family secrets slowly poison everything. Nugent nails that feeling of communal silence, the kind that protects institutions but wrecks people. There’s something universal here: dragging your baggage across the ocean, thinking a new city means a new start, and then realizing you’re just replaying the same old mess. It’s a bleak look at human nature, with zero sugar-coating.

Nugent’s writing is still sharp and spare, but this shift in genre feels awkward. Without the tension of a real mystery, the whole book leans on the emotional fallout, and honestly, it’s heavy. The story doesn’t flinch from things like alcoholism and assault, so you need a strong stomach. If you can let go of expecting a fast-paced thriller, you’ll find a solid, if exhausting, exploration of what happens after everything goes wrong.

In the end, this is a book about the price of survival. Don’t expect a rush. But you might find yourself thinking about your own family, and the secrets you’ve quietly accepted. I’m giving it a 3 out of 5. Mostly because I hate being promised a sprint and ending up on a slow, gloomy march through a graveyard. Read it for the social insight, not for suspense.

3/5