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A Novel
by Lydia Kang
From the bestselling author of A Beautiful Poison comes a spellbinding historical mystery about hidden identities, wartime paranoia, and the tantalizing power of deceit.
Brooklyn, 1942. War rages overseas as brother and sister Will and Maggie Scripps contribute to the war effort stateside. Ambitious Will secretly scouts for the Manhattan Project while grief-stricken Maggie works at the Navy Yard, writing letters to her dead mother between shifts.
But the siblings' quiet lives change when they discover a beautiful woman hiding under their back stairs. This stranger harbors an obsession with poisons, an affection for fine things, and a singular talent for killing small creatures. As she draws Will and Maggie deeper into her mysterious past, they both begin to suspect she's quite dangerous―all while falling helplessly under her spell.
With whispers of spies in dark corners and the world's first atomic bomb in the works, the visitor's sudden presence in Maggie's and Will's lives raises questions about who she is and what she wants. Is this mysterious woman someone they can trust―or a threat to everything they hold dear?
"Lydia Kang does it again. The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding is riveting. Set in Brooklyn and New York City at the height of World War II, we are dropped into a world where no one can be trusted. The Manhattan Project is in its early stages and the key to winning the war. But who works for who? Not only are loyalties to country challenged, but family loyalties as well. Characters' motives and desires shift and twist. No one is who they claim to be. And in the middle of it all is the strange, alluring, and enigmatic Ruby Fielding, who may undo them all. A marvelous, complex, and thrilling read." ―Kim Taylor Blakemore, bestselling author of After Alice Fell
"Brimming with gracefully executed twists and turns, The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding is a suspenseful tale encompassing the shrouded early history of the Manhattan Project, set in its namesake city. Kang's unforgettable characters, both courageous and sinister, play out their respective parts behind blackout-curtained windows, holding their cards close until the end. Packed with intrigue and secret assignations, this is a triumphant addition to the WWII canon by a masterful author." ―Paulette Kennedy, author of Parting the Veil
This information about The Half-Life of Ruby Fielding was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lydia Kang is an author and internal medicine physician. She is a graduate of Columbia University and New York University School of Medicine, and she completed her training at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. She lives with her family in the Midwest. Follow her on Twitter (@LydiaYKang) and Instagram (@LydiaKang).
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