Ruth in Shadow and in Light

For fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, a novel of devastating family secrets and a young Jewish woman whose search for truth—and her relationships with two very different men—leads her to discover the complex and redeeming power of love.

In a fine Brooklyn brownstone in the mid–20th century, Ruth and her brothers are raised by their Eastern-European Jewish father, along with a spinster aunt and bachelor uncle. Her father, a widower and respected physician, is proud to have risen from Ellis Island newcomer to a prominent figure within his close-knit immigrant community.

But family tensions mount: Ruth’s younger brother rebels against everything their father represents, while her older brother is killed in action in World War II. Not long after, the sudden deaths of her father, aunt, and uncle leave Ruth to inherit a legacy she cannot ignore. With half-remembered childhood moments, hidden documents, and clues appearing around every corner, she’s compelled to embark on a journey to piece together the truth about her mother’s life and death.

Along the way, Ruth struggles to imagine her future as she works to hold her fracturing life together—including her relationship with her betrothed, Shimon—but discovers that her own sense of purpose and a sincere life partner can come from reckoning with what it truly means to love.