The Beautiful Ruined World
Amazon Kindle, 2025
Summary
Juliet Ruskin, married with a young child, finds herself troubled by the lies she's told her husband and the larger secret of her past. To cope, Juliet decides to write down her story, hoping to find forgiveness at the end.
The story Juliet writes tells of the disintegration of a family who leave their seventeen-year-old daughter behind when they move across the country. Soon expelled from private school, the daughter has no place to go but to her parents' new house where the older couple have happily joined the local community.
At a hearing of the county commissioners, the daughter's father hears of a proposed landfill near their home but finds his concerns rapidly silenced. Meanwhile, the daughter's mother—who has recently accepted the starring role in a play—begins behaving oddly and adapting behaviors of her volatile character.
The only breath of fresh air the daughter has is Antoine, a Black exchange student from the Central African Republic. Finding his naivety charming, the daughter resumes hobbies she'd left behind and they quickly become friends.
Unfortunately, Antoine finds himself a catalyst for trouble and racial hatred in the city while the daughter finds herself embroiled in things that will haunt her for years to come.
When the story reaches its conclusion, and Juliet has written her sins, will she be able to find peace?
Quote from Book
In the minutes here and there when Antoine’s asleep, or evenings when Javier has meetings with clients, or in the dark mornings before anyone else is awake, I take notes, remember on paper, reconstruct the times past. I’ve told myself it’s for Javier and Antoine, for Javier’s family who love me, and that’s true. But it’s more for myself. I have to write what happened, even if the truth is always incomplete and uncertain. I have coalesced information, limited descriptions, and omitted details. I can only write down what people told me (even when they lied), and what I took to be the meanings of words, and what I observed.
I was eighteen when this happened, almost nineteen. I thought I was savvy and aware, I responded to circumstances with too much anger, too much disgust, too much joy. I ask myself what I should have done or not done, what I should have felt in the moment. I’ve discovered feelings are slippery and difficult to turn into words.
To sort through memory and go back to where I was then, to reach, in the writing about it, where I am now—that’s my hope. Even if I can never be completely honest with Javier, I can be honest with myself.
From The Beautiful Ruined World