The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding
Anchored in Brooklyn, New York, in the fall of 1942, The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding offers the reader a most implausible tale centered around a mysterious woman who dabbles in poisons, the overall situation overshadowed by the beginnings of the Manhattan Project. Siblings William and Maggie Scripps, both emotionally damaged individuals with unresolved histories, coexist in the same small family house and lead separate lives. While each is caught up in the general anxiety with the United States becoming involved in a global war, they independently deal with their own challenges in strange, unconnected ways.
Will’s comment, “The war did funny things to people. It made them live harder and fiercer” sets the scene for the curious events that unfold. Finding a woman unconscious under the stoop of his house—why his house, with his special job? —was not an everyday occurrence. This is especially disconcerting as Will works for an ultra-secret project that uses uranium.
Maggie, struggling to find her own place in this newly evolving wartime world, is drawn to the strange, newly found lady. Uncomfortable with alerting the authorities, against the advice of her brother and common sense, she feels a need to offer solace. Compounding the life complexities of brother and sister is Maggie’s insistence on writing long, insightful letters to her mother who had died by suicide.
These conflicting and unresolved scenarios are further complicated by death, intrigues, poisonings, hidden spies, and long-forgotten relatives resurfacing. From beginning to end, this is a complex, intertwined narrative with a less-than-satisfying denouement.
