RUTH a novel by Pat Mosel
Synopsis
Ruth Pearson leaves her homeland of Rhodesia in an armed convoy in 1978, while war is still raging on national borders, two years before this country in the heart of Africa becomes independent Zimbabwe. She settles in Scotland and marries landowner, Max Heriot-Ross. She puts down roots in the Scottish Borders at Auld Oak Hall, property inherited by Max, and they have a son, Nicky. However, twenty four years into the marriage Ruth again faces the tearing up of her roots because the marriage continues to deteriorate and she and Max resort to keeping up appearances to conceal the near-collapse of their relationship.
Ruth decides to leave, but before her planned departure, in July 2004, she invites some guests to a weekend party at Auld Oak Hall, in its idyllic rural setting. Eight guests come from various parts of England and Scotland to the party to celebrate Ruth’s fifty-third birthday. When Max is shot dead on the night of the celebrations, each one of the adults is a suspect. Detective Superintendent Clive Drummond, from Edinburgh joins the local police in investigating the murder which Ruth is convinced that she, herself, has committed...
Ruth is about oppression and loss. It is about personal guilt and the guilt associated with the British Empire. It is about love and belonging. A keen psycological portrait, it is also a crime story and thus both absorbing and challenging.