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    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez
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    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez
    Unavailable
    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez
    Audiobook6 hours

    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

    Written by Claire Jimenez

    Narrated by Claire Jimenez

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A powerful novel that's "hilarious, heartbreaking, and ass-kicking" (Jamie Ford) about a Puerto Rican family in Staten Island who discovers their long‑missing sister is potentially alive and cast on a reality TV show, and sets out to bring her home.

    Winner of the 2024 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction · Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize · March Indie Next Pick · Belletrist, Phenomenal, Page & Pairing, and Readers Digest book club pick 

    The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen‑year‑old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred and scrambling. One night, twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica spots a woman on her TV screen in Catfight, a raunchy reality show. She rushes to tell her younger sister, Nina: This woman's hair is dyed red, and she calls herself Ruby, but the beauty mark under her left eye is instantly recognizable. Could it be Ruthy, after all this time?

    The years since Ruthy's disappearance haven't been easy on the Ramirez family. It’s 2008, and their mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, Jessica juggles a newborn baby with her hospital job, and Nina, after four successful years at college, has returned home to medical school rejections and is forced to work in the mall folding tiny bedazzled thongs at the lingerie store.

    After seeing maybe‑Ruthy on their screen, Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to where the show is filmed in search of their long‑lost sister. When Dolores catches wind of their scheme, she insists on joining, along with her pot-stirring holy roller best friend, Irene. What follows is a family road trip and reckoning that will force the Ramirez women to finally face the past and look toward a future—with or without Ruthy in it.

    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a vivid family portrait, in all its shattered reality, exploring the familial bonds between women and cycles of generational violence, colonialism, race, and silence, replete with snark, resentment, tenderness, and, of course, love.

    A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by Elle • USA Today • Today.com • Ms. Magazine • Good Housekeeping • Bustle • The Week • Goodreads • Bookriot • Pop Culturely • SheReads • Litreactor • Electric Lit • The Mary Sue • People Español • Zibby Mag • Debutiful • Her Campus
     
    Best Books of March by Shondaland • Ms. Magazine • Popsugar • Bookriot • Debutiful • Powell’s Book Blog • TIME 100 must-read book of 2023 • Booklist Top 10 debut of 2023

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateMar 7, 2023
    ISBN9781668620984
    Unavailable
    What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez
    Author

    Claire Jimenez

    CLAIRE JIMÉNEZ es una escritora puertorriqueña que creció en Brooklyn y Staten Island, Nueva York. Es autora de la colección de cuentos Staten Island Stories (Johns Hopkins Press, 2019), galardonada con el Hornblower Award de la New York Society Library en 2019. Fue finalista de los International Latino Book Awards, Libro Favorito de la Biblioteca Pública de Nueva York sobre Nueva York y Mejor Libro Latino de 2019 por NBC News. Cursó su maestría en la Universidad de Vanderbilt y obtuvo un Doctorado en Inglés, con especialización en Estudios Étnicos y Humanidades Digitales, en la Universidad de Nebraska-Lincoln. En 2019 cofundó el Proyecto de Literatura Puertorriqueña, un archivo digital que documenta la vida y el trabajo de cientos de escritores puertorriqueños. Es profesora adjunta de Inglés y Estudios Afroamericanos en la Universidad de Carolina del Sur. Sus ficciones, ensayos y reseñas han aparecido en Remezcla, Afro-Hispanic Review, PANK, The Rumpus y Eater, entre otras publicaciones. ¿Qué le pasó a Ruthy Ramírez? es su primera novela.

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    Reviews for What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez

    3.5/5

    34 ratings7 reviews

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    • 4/5
      "Yes, I am the oldest daughter, but I am also human."  p116

      That above is my favorite line from the book.  (Us eldest know. So funny. So true.)  Winner of the PEN/Faulkner award in 2024.  Here we have a spicy polyphonic novel that switches perspective between three Puerto Rican sisters and their mother in New York City-- and one of the sisters has disappeared when she is a teenager.  Years later, the other two sisters think they see the missing sister on a horrible reality show.  Missing persons stories usually like to shove me away, but there is more here to chew on, including a great shifting of perspectives within this family that adds and builds upon the other voices.   This story is also about family, sisters, abuse, racism and what reality TV does to black and brown girls especially.  I liked this well enough!
      I would set this on the shelf beside 'LaRose' by Louise Erdrich, 'Dear Miss Metropolitan' by Carolyn Ferrell,  'Neruda on the Park' by Cleyvis Natera, 'Nightcrawling' by Leila Mottley and 'I Have Some Questions For You' by Rebecca Makkai.
    • 4/5
      I rec'd this ARC in early 2023 from Grand Central Publishing.
      The premise of this novel is how a family, in this case a Puerto Rican family, deals when their 13 year old daughter doesn't return home from track practice. Did she runaway, was she being held against her will, is she on a sexy reality show or was she killed?
      When 10 years have gone by, Ruthy's mom and sisters believe they've found her on the internet. Hope is still strong after such a long time and ultimately go on a road trip to bring her home.
      Each chapter is from the perspective of Dolores, Ruthy's mom and her sisters, Nina and Jessica. Ruthy herself has chapters detailing the day she went missing.
      I liked this story and thought it well crafted and enjoyed the bits of humor woven through.
    • 3/5
      Audiobook read by the author.


      Twelve years ago, thirteen-year-old Ruthy Ramírez disappeared without a trace, leaving her family emotionally scarred. But now, Jessica, her older sister, is certain that a woman participating in the latest reality TV show is really Ruthy. She tells youngest sister Nina, and the two of them concoct a plant to bring Ruthy home.

      Jiménez uses multiple narrators and dual timelines to explore what happens to this family as a result of Ruthy’s disappearance. In addition to her two sisters, Ruthy’s mother, Dolores, narrates portions of this story. Yes, life has gone on, but the hole left by Ruthy’s disappearance has had a significant impact on all of them.

      It’s hard not to grab onto the sliver of hope that this “maybe” Ruthy on TV gives to Jessica, Nina and Dolores. I went along on the roller coaster ride with them, and hoped, almost as desperately as they did, that they would find her and bring her home once again.

      The important thing, though, is seeing how these strong women have adjusted to this tragic event; how they’ve coped and managed to continue to look to the future despite all the disappointments.

      Claire Jiménez read the audiobook herself. She is not a trained voice artist, but she certainly has a passion for the story and knows what she wants to convey.
    • 4/5
      Thirteen-year-old Ruthy Ramirez disappeared without a trace in 1996, and in 2008 her mother and sisters are still trying to cope with her loss. When they see a young woman on an exploitive reality television series who resembles Ruthy, they take matters into their own hands to find out the truth.

      I liked some things about this debut novel—the neighborhood setting is vivid, and the characters are well-drawn. A small, realistically-depicted baby named Julie almost steals the show. I was disappointed, however, by the abrupt ending.
    • 2/5
      What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez
      Fiction debut. Own voice: Puerta Rican. Multiple POV’s.
      Ruthy Ramirez disappeared at the age of thirteen. Twelve years later, family members think they might have found Ruthy on a television reality show.

      Told from the sisters and mothers POV, as well as a historical slant from Ruthy prior to her disappearance. The story covers their lives, what’s going on both in the current day and a bit of the past. Some upsetting pieces are glossed over while the difficult reality of daily life is both included but missing relevant details. Knowing the time period of a portion of this story occurs in 2008 and during a recession is important. The reality show descriptive behavior after the family has figured out if it’s really Ruthy is ugly and I’m not sure why it’s included.
      For me, this story is sad and depressing.

      I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
    • 4/5
      Trigger Warnings: Discussion of rape and molestation, missing child(ren)

      13-year-old Ruthie Ramirez disappeared without a trace from a bus stop after track practice in 1996. Her disappearance rocked the Ramirez family and they were never able to fully recover. Then, one night, twelve years later, older sister Jessica spots a splitting image of their sister on a reality TV show called Catfight, she even has the beauty mark under the left eye that is instantly recognizable.

      In 2008, Ruthy’s mother, Dolores, still struggles with the loss, older sister Jessica now has a newborn baby and works at the hospital, and younger sister Nina, after four years away at college, is now back and living with their mom and is forced to work a job at the lingerie store at the mall.

      After the sisters see the could-be-Ruthy, they hatch a plan to go down to where the show is filming to see if they can confirm who they think she is. When Dolores also sees the could-be-Ruthy herself, she insists on joining, and dragging along her best friend, Irene. The Ramirez women then set on a road trip that forces them to face their past and look towards the future, with or without the could-be-Ruthy.

      This is both a heartwarming and a heartbreaking novel. The chapters jump around between the Ramirez women, including Ruthy back in 1996 on the day of her disappearance. By doing this, Jiménez is able to show you each of their thoughts and feelings, which really humanizes the whole thing and makes it feel authentic.

      What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez was also a pretty quick read for me as well, the only reason it took me two days was because I started it later in the evening on the 19th. The writing style and language of this novel are smooth and easy flowing, regardless of whose POV the chapter was written in. This style also keeps the mystery of what really happened to Ruthy up until the very end - did she get taken or did she simply run away and refuse to talk to her family again?

      I can easily see this book becoming a Book Club favorite in libraries as well as highly talked about once it’s released in a few weeks. Anyone who likes to read about a complicated family dynamic, especially based around women, will greatly enjoy this book.

      *Thank you Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
    • 4/5
      Thirteen-year-old Ruthy Ramirez disappeared after track practice years ago, but in Claire Jimenez’s debut novel readers feel the ramifications still affecting her family. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez uses chapters written in the voices of Ruthy’s two sisters and her mom, and also a chorus-like voice of Ruthy to examine a family destroyed but trying to hold together after tragedy. Jimenez manages to craft a humorous novel and make all of the characters ring true as she delves into their pasts and explores contemporary themes of family, poverty, racism, and violence against women. An excellent debut for readers of Angie Cruz, Julia Alvarez, and other character-driven literary fiction.