For readers of Tommy Orange's There There and Terese Marie Mailhot's Heart Berries Probably
Ruby is an audacious brave and beautiful book about an adopted woman's search for her
Indigenous identity. Relinquished as an infant Ruby is placed in a foster home and finally
adopted by Alice and Mel a less-than-desirable couple who can't afford to complain too loudly
about Ruby's Indigenous roots. But when her new parents' marriage falls apart Ruby finds
herself vulnerable and in compromising situations that lead her to search in the unlikeliest
of places for her Indigenous identity. Unabashedly self-destructing on alcohol drugs and bad
relationships Ruby grapples with the meaning of the legacy left to her. In a series of
expanding narratives Ruby and the people connected to her tell their stories and help flesh
out Ruby's history. Seeking understanding of how we come to know who we are Probably Ruby
explores how we find and invent ourselves in ways as peculiar and varied as the experiences of
Indigenous adoptees themselves. Ruby's voice her devastating honesty and tremendous laugh
will not soon be forgotten. Probably Ruby is a perfectly crafted novel with effortless nearly
imperceptible shifts in time and perspective exquisitely chosen detail natural dialogue and
emotional control that results in breathtaking levels of tension and points of revelation.
