My Search for Ruth

by Anna Clarke

This is a reissue of one of the prolific British author's mysteries, first published in England in 1973. Clarke's narrator, Ruth, relives her haunted growing years and the torments she felt because no one would tell her the truth about her missing mother, also called Ruth. The orphan runs away from guardians and lies to a man she meets, telling him she's a student at St. Margaret's, where professor West escorts her. The headmistress, Miss Murry, who knew Ruth's mother when she was a student there, allows the girl to stay and becomes her foster mother, asking Ruth to call her Nan. Bit by bit, Ruth inveigles information from Nan, which is revealed to be false in the mystery's shocking finale. During succeeding events, hints about strange relationshipsbetween West and Miss Murry, between the girl and everyone elseare introduced as side issues that eventually prove meaningless, and irksome to boot. But a more serious failing lies in the character of the heroine; she is querulous, unkind, thankless and self-dramatizing. While the natural inclination is to sympathize with the orphan, readers may instead feel for Ruth's generous benefactors. Doubleday Book Club dual main selection; Mystery Guild alternate.

Genres: Mystery

268 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1989

About the author

Anna Clarke was born in Cape Town and educated in Montreal and Oxford. She holds degrees in economics and English literature and has held a wide variety of jobs, mostly in publishing and university administration.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really want to read this book again, because it blew me away as a fifth-grader. I don't remember much of the story, except that the girl was searching for her mother and encountered a few very interesting characters along the way. What I remember clearly, though, is the scene depicted on the cover featured on this site: the girl goes into the boat house, sits against the wall, and says "Memory, do your worst," or something along those lines.

[Ruth E. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so great. I've had this book for years and read it before, but couldn't remember anything about it. I think I know why. The protagonist is so annoying and negative, even when she is a child. She can be kind, but is often mean and seems overly preoccupied with her past. She comes to blame her guardian and accuse her of things that just don't make sense.

[Mazzou B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up this book for free somewhere. It was okay; not as gruesome or troublesome as you'd expect. Not much of a powerful message though. It was touching and helped to understand children in that predicament but nothing life-changing.