Ruth
Start Publishing LLC · Print & ebook · March 1, 2013
A Classics pick for readers exploring Ruth.
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- Who it’s for
- A Victorian novel of social judgment, concealed truths, and compassion for a woman society condemns.
- Themes
- Stigma around illegitimacy, Women's vulnerability and respectability
- Genres
- Victorian Romance, 19th-Century English Fiction, The Classics
Nearest books
Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: The Classics.
Mary BartonElizabeth Gaskell, Shirley Foster52% matchAlso shares 19th-Century English Fiction
The Way We Live NowAnthony Trollope46% matchAlso shares 19th-Century English Fiction
The MoonstoneWilkie Collins47% match
Miss AustenGill Hornby49% match
Call the Midwife: Shadows of the WorkhouseJennifer Worth52% match
Moll FlandersDaniel Defoe53% match
Mill on the FlossGeorge Eliot48% matchAlso shares 19th-Century English Fiction
Far From the Madding CrowdThomas Hardy49% matchAlso shares Victorian Romance and 19th-Century English Fiction
For younger readers: Understood Betsy, The Merchant's Daughter, Red
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Ruth is a surprisingly compassionate portrayal of a fallen woman in Victorian times. Ruth Hilton is an young orphaned seamstress who is seduced and then abandoned by gentleman Henry Bellingham. Ruth, pregnant and alone, is taken in by a minister and his sister. They conceal her single status under the pretense of widowhood in order to protect her child from the social stigma of illegitimacy.
Continue reading
Ruth goes on to gain a respectable position in society as a governess, which is threatened by the return of Bellingham and the revelation of her secret.
Compassion and Consequence
A Victorian novel of social judgment, concealed truths, and compassion for a woman society condemns.
Come here for
- A humane portrait of stigma and constrained choices
- Tension between private secrets and public respectability
Expect
- A sustained narrative shaped by social consequences
- Compassion without easy answers
Where it sits
| The Classics | 55% |
|---|---|
| Victorian Romance | 41% |
| 19th-Century English Fiction | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Contemporary Romance
- New Adult Romance
- Authors
- Elizabeth Gaskell
- Publisher
- Start Publishing LLC
- Published
- March 1, 2013
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Stigma around illegitimacy · Women's vulnerability and respectability
- Reading lane
- Contemporary Romance