Genre Fiction
![Lisa Bird-Wilson - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B00E9CL1J4.jpg)
Probably Ruby: A Novel
An Indigenous woman adopted by white parents goes in search of her identity in this unforgettable debut novel about family, race, and history.
"A passionate exploration of identity and belonging and a celebration of our universal desire to love and be loved."-Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022-The Millions, Electric Lit
This is the story of a woman in search of herself, in every sense. When we first meet Ruby, a Métis woman in her thirties, her life is spinning out of control. She's angling to sleep with her counselor while also rekindling an old relationship she knows will only bring more heartache. But as we soon learn, Ruby's story is far more complex than even she can imagine.
Given up for adoption as an infant, Ruby is raised by a white couple who understand little of her Indigenous heritage. This is the great mystery that hovers over Ruby's life-who her people are and how to reconcile what is missing. As the novel spans time and multiple points of view, we meet the people connected to Ruby: her birth parents and grandparents; her adoptive parents; the men and women Ruby has been romantically involved with; a beloved uncle; and Ruby's children. Taken together, these characters form a kaleidoscope of stories, giving Ruby's life dignity and meaning.
Probably Ruby is a dazzling novel about a bold, unapologetic woman taking control of her life and story, and marks the debut of a major new voice in Indigenous fiction.
"A passionate exploration of identity and belonging and a celebration of our universal desire to love and be loved."-Imbolo Mbue, author of Behold the Dreamers
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022-The Millions, Electric Lit
This is the story of a woman in search of herself, in every sense. When we first meet Ruby, a Métis woman in her thirties, her life is spinning out of control. She's angling to sleep with her counselor while also rekindling an old relationship she knows will only bring more heartache. But as we soon learn, Ruby's story is far more complex than even she can imagine.
Given up for adoption as an infant, Ruby is raised by a white couple who understand little of her Indigenous heritage. This is the great mystery that hovers over Ruby's life-who her people are and how to reconcile what is missing. As the novel spans time and multiple points of view, we meet the people connected to Ruby: her birth parents and grandparents; her adoptive parents; the men and women Ruby has been romantically involved with; a beloved uncle; and Ruby's children. Taken together, these characters form a kaleidoscope of stories, giving Ruby's life dignity and meaning.
Probably Ruby is a dazzling novel about a bold, unapologetic woman taking control of her life and story, and marks the debut of a major new voice in Indigenous fiction.
Editorial Reviews
"Writing from the depths of her heart, Lisa Bird-Wilson has gifted us a passionate exploration of identity and belonging and a celebration of our universal desire to love and be loved."-Imbolo Mbue, bestselling and award-winning author of How Beautiful We Were and Behold the Dreamers
"Probably Ruby reminds us that our stories are acts of survival. That it's not ‘so much the question of what [we've] inherited, but what [we] do with it.' That grief, too, can be a gift. Written in prose to be savored, Bird-Wilson's novel and its heroine will stay with me for a long time."-Kelli Jo Ford, author of Crooked Hallelujah
"Told from different viewpoints, this multifaceted narrative sparkles with life as we piece together Ruby's story, starting before she is even born. It is utterly heartbreaking that we see parts of Ruby's life that she herself cannot perceive, a compelling chord that stays with us throughout the novel. This is a beautiful, unusual, and insightful story about the lost pieces of one woman's life and Indigenous identity."-Christy Lefteri, bestselling author of SongbirdsandThe Beekeeper of Aleppo
"In Probably Ruby, Lisa Bird-Wilson takes us along on a woman's deeply poignant journey in search of self, identity, and the reclaiming of an Indigenous heritage that has been taken from her. In Ruby's story, we see the powerful threads of family in one's life that can shape, even from afar. This story will stay with you."-Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, author of Sarong Party Girls
"In this time of crises and isolation, I've come to cherish Probably Ruby. It details legacies of struggle without giving in to spectacle. It illuminates, in language of deepest care and artistic exactness, the diverse relations and irreducible complexity of an unforgettable life. Lisa Bird-Wilson is someone I urge you to read."-David Chariandy, award-winning author of Brother
"Probably Ruby reminds us that our stories are acts of survival. That it's not ‘so much the question of what [we've] inherited, but what [we] do with it.' That grief, too, can be a gift. Written in prose to be savored, Bird-Wilson's novel and its heroine will stay with me for a long time."-Kelli Jo Ford, author of Crooked Hallelujah
"Told from different viewpoints, this multifaceted narrative sparkles with life as we piece together Ruby's story, starting before she is even born. It is utterly heartbreaking that we see parts of Ruby's life that she herself cannot perceive, a compelling chord that stays with us throughout the novel. This is a beautiful, unusual, and insightful story about the lost pieces of one woman's life and Indigenous identity."-Christy Lefteri, bestselling author of SongbirdsandThe Beekeeper of Aleppo
"In Probably Ruby, Lisa Bird-Wilson takes us along on a woman's deeply poignant journey in search of self, identity, and the reclaiming of an Indigenous heritage that has been taken from her. In Ruby's story, we see the powerful threads of family in one's life that can shape, even from afar. This story will stay with you."-Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, author of Sarong Party Girls
"In this time of crises and isolation, I've come to cherish Probably Ruby. It details legacies of struggle without giving in to spectacle. It illuminates, in language of deepest care and artistic exactness, the diverse relations and irreducible complexity of an unforgettable life. Lisa Bird-Wilson is someone I urge you to read."-David Chariandy, award-winning author of Brother
Short Excerpt Teaser
Kal
2013
...
"I like to be in charge," said Ruby. "I pretend I like watching him jerk off, just so I won't have to touch him. My commitment level's kind of low on this one."
Kal's face showed no emotion. Instead he looked at the sunglasses resting on top of Ruby's head. Kal's office was in the interior of a downtown building and had no windows. Outside, it had been raining for days. He asked, "Is it sunny out there now, Ruby?"
His question made her laugh. She had a royal, attention-getting laugh, big enough to be heard out in Kal's waiting room. Which was good. Ruby wanted anyone out there to know Kal and she were having a great time. Try and top that, sucker. That's what she hoped her laugh said to any waiting client she'd subconsciously pegged as a rival for Kal's affections. And by "anyone" she mostly meant the shiny, obvious "Lori," seen on one occasion leaving his office and stopping to make an appointment on her way out; and, another time, waiting for Kal as Ruby left. In an effort to make him even more uniquely hers, she tried out a variety of nicknames on Kal. "Hey, Mister K," she'd said when she arrived today, to which he just shook his head and smiled, motioning for her to come in. She was pleased to make him smile like that.
Ruby carried on with the chitchat about her new boyfriend. "I say the dirtiest things to him, Kal. To get it over with quicker."
He nodded.
"Why are guys always so turned on by the idea of coming on your face?" she asked, pausing so he could think about that one. Ruby knew Kal was divorced and had recently started dating. He often told her personal things about himself as a way to relate to what she was going through. Because of this, he was her favorite kind of counselor. She listened carefully to his disclosures.
Sometimes she hit it off with a new counselor and sometimes she didn't. She usually gave it two appointments to decide, but honestly, a lot of them only deserved one chance, and even then she'd been known to cut the first hour short.
Take the counselor before Kal: Larry, with the huge wooden cross around his neck. So effing big, as if he was compensating for something. Or dragging it around doing penance. He had a serious Jesus complex, that one. She decided quickly: Jesus-counselor was not going to get the benefit of her attention-he said one thing about the "sanctity of the marriage bed" and she threw up a little bit in her mouth before she fled. After that she made sure to tell the assigning agent at the insurance company that she didn't want "Christian" counseling, thank you very much.
In her experience, the people who stressed things the most or the loudest were the first ones to break their own rules. That's why she always liked to hear one of her counselors say they would "never" date a client. When they said that she couldn't help but think, Great. Now we're getting somewhere.
Ruby always fell for her counselors. That was the point, really. I mean here was this person and they only had eyes and ears for you. How could you not be crazy about that? You got to be in a room alone with someone who listened hard and cared about what you were saying. Ruby was also counselor-monogamous, as far as that went. That was, if monogamy meant one at a time, one after another.
"You're really aware of your anxiety," Kal said during their first or second session. "You just don't quite know how to manage it." He was right. She hated to be alone. She sometimes felt she'd had kids to save her from being alone. But she could still be lonely.
"I'm not all parent," she told Kal once. "I'm a person, too. I'm often selfish and greedy." In some ways, the boys were the only thing, and in other ways she needed so much more to save her from her sadness.
Today Kal and she were four sessions in and she was trying to decide if she would renew with him. That was, if her insurance would allow it. Six was the upper limit on the first assignment, and she got six because "her stepdad died." Which was not really true but, as far as she could tell, insurance companies had no truth-auditing process. She didn't have a stepdad. But if she did he might have died, because he'd have been old, right? Ruby's paren...
2013
...
"I like to be in charge," said Ruby. "I pretend I like watching him jerk off, just so I won't have to touch him. My commitment level's kind of low on this one."
Kal's face showed no emotion. Instead he looked at the sunglasses resting on top of Ruby's head. Kal's office was in the interior of a downtown building and had no windows. Outside, it had been raining for days. He asked, "Is it sunny out there now, Ruby?"
His question made her laugh. She had a royal, attention-getting laugh, big enough to be heard out in Kal's waiting room. Which was good. Ruby wanted anyone out there to know Kal and she were having a great time. Try and top that, sucker. That's what she hoped her laugh said to any waiting client she'd subconsciously pegged as a rival for Kal's affections. And by "anyone" she mostly meant the shiny, obvious "Lori," seen on one occasion leaving his office and stopping to make an appointment on her way out; and, another time, waiting for Kal as Ruby left. In an effort to make him even more uniquely hers, she tried out a variety of nicknames on Kal. "Hey, Mister K," she'd said when she arrived today, to which he just shook his head and smiled, motioning for her to come in. She was pleased to make him smile like that.
Ruby carried on with the chitchat about her new boyfriend. "I say the dirtiest things to him, Kal. To get it over with quicker."
He nodded.
"Why are guys always so turned on by the idea of coming on your face?" she asked, pausing so he could think about that one. Ruby knew Kal was divorced and had recently started dating. He often told her personal things about himself as a way to relate to what she was going through. Because of this, he was her favorite kind of counselor. She listened carefully to his disclosures.
Sometimes she hit it off with a new counselor and sometimes she didn't. She usually gave it two appointments to decide, but honestly, a lot of them only deserved one chance, and even then she'd been known to cut the first hour short.
Take the counselor before Kal: Larry, with the huge wooden cross around his neck. So effing big, as if he was compensating for something. Or dragging it around doing penance. He had a serious Jesus complex, that one. She decided quickly: Jesus-counselor was not going to get the benefit of her attention-he said one thing about the "sanctity of the marriage bed" and she threw up a little bit in her mouth before she fled. After that she made sure to tell the assigning agent at the insurance company that she didn't want "Christian" counseling, thank you very much.
In her experience, the people who stressed things the most or the loudest were the first ones to break their own rules. That's why she always liked to hear one of her counselors say they would "never" date a client. When they said that she couldn't help but think, Great. Now we're getting somewhere.
Ruby always fell for her counselors. That was the point, really. I mean here was this person and they only had eyes and ears for you. How could you not be crazy about that? You got to be in a room alone with someone who listened hard and cared about what you were saying. Ruby was also counselor-monogamous, as far as that went. That was, if monogamy meant one at a time, one after another.
"You're really aware of your anxiety," Kal said during their first or second session. "You just don't quite know how to manage it." He was right. She hated to be alone. She sometimes felt she'd had kids to save her from being alone. But she could still be lonely.
"I'm not all parent," she told Kal once. "I'm a person, too. I'm often selfish and greedy." In some ways, the boys were the only thing, and in other ways she needed so much more to save her from her sadness.
Today Kal and she were four sessions in and she was trying to decide if she would renew with him. That was, if her insurance would allow it. Six was the upper limit on the first assignment, and she got six because "her stepdad died." Which was not really true but, as far as she could tell, insurance companies had no truth-auditing process. She didn't have a stepdad. But if she did he might have died, because he'd have been old, right? Ruby's paren...
