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Barnes and Nobles
Kensington Books
Amazon
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LOST DAUGHTERS
After years of living under Mama Ruby’s commanding presence, Maureen Montgomery is finally taking charge of her own life. With her beautiful teenage daughter, Loretta, by her side, she returns to Florida after Mama Ruby’s death and settles into a routine that any other woman would consider bland. But for Maureen and her older brother Virgil, who grew up with Mama Ruby’s hair-trigger temper and murderous ways, bland is good.
But Loretta has other ideas. Set on becoming rich and famous, she convinces Maureen to let her start a modeling career. And Loretta thinks Miami photographer Melvin Ross is just the man to make her a star. But even with Mel by their side, taking Maureen and Loretta’s lives in new directions, they can’t escape Mama Ruby. Neither can Virgil, who’s concealed one of Mama Ruby’s most shocking acts for most of his life…and is now living with the guilt of his deceit.
Yet, as much as Virgil knows, he could never imagine the depth of Mama Ruby’s yearning for her daughter, or how much Maureen wants her own daughter to feel free to live on her own terms. For them, Mama Ruby will never die…and it’s not until Maureen takes on a bit of Mama Ruby’s strength to face down the past and forge new bonds that she’s able to make a future that is truly hers.
“Reminiscent of Zora Neale Hurston, but the story has a bizarre, violent edge a la Stephen King…a candid portrayal of the cold-blooded yet fascinating Mama Ruby.” —Publishers Weekly on The Upper Room
“Magnificent, coarse, funny and terrifying.” —The San Francisco Chronicle on The Upper Room
“Warm, energetic, and charming.” —The Houston Post on The Upper Room
“Monroe’s literary canvas is painted with broad strokes, with verve and humor and passion.” —Christian Science Monitor on The Upper Room
“Mama Ruby fans, this is The Upper Room prequel you’ve been waiting for!” —RT Book Reviews on Mama Ruby
“Monroe’s style, like her characters, is no-holds-barred earthy…. Monroe’s characters deal with their situations with a weary worldliness and fatalism that reveal their vulnerability as well as their flaws.” —Booklist on Mama Ruby
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Barnes and Nobles
Books-A-Million
Indie Bound
Kensington Books
Amazon
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MAMA RUBY
New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe presents an unforgettable tale featuring Mama Ruby, the indomitable heroine of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room. Now readers will get a peek into Ruby’s early years, as she transforms from a spoiled small-town girl into one of the South’s most notorious and volatile women…
Growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, Ruby Jean Upshaw is the kind of girl who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. By the time she’s fifteen, Ruby has developed a taste for fast men and cheap liquor, and not even her preacher daddy can set her straight. Most everyone in the neighborhood knows you don’t cross Ruby. Only Othella Mae Cartier, daughter of the town tramp, understands what makes Ruby tick.
When Ruby discovers she’s in the family way, she’s scared for the first time in her life. After hiding her growing belly with baggy dresses, Ruby secretly gives birth to a baby girl at Othella’s house. With few choices, Othella talks Ruby into giving the child away—and with the help of a shocking revelation, convinces Ruby to run off with her to New Orleans.
But nothing can erase Ruby’s memories of the child she lost—or quell her simmering rage at Othella for persuading her to let her precious baby go. If there’s a fine line between best friend and worst nightmare, Ruby is surely treading it. Because someday, there will be a reckoning. And when it comes, Othella will learn the hard way that no one knows how to exact revenge quite like Ruby Jean Upshaw…
“Monroe is a masterful storyteller.” —Philadelphia Inquirer
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Barnes and Nobles
Books-A-Million
Indie Bound
Borders
Kensington Books
Amazon
Press Release
Praise
Excerpt
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THE UPPER ROOM Mama Ruby may not be all crazy, but she's at least halfway there. She's known for taking things that aren't rightfully hers, like her best friend's stillborn baby—a tiny brown girl that she brought back to life with her legendary healing hands and christened Maureen. She's also rumored to have done away with her husband (True, he deserved it, but still.) Some fear her. Others try their best to avoid her. But most everyone agrees the devil has got hold of Mama Ruby's soul.
With her God-fearing neighbors watching her every step, it's all Mama Ruby can do to stay ahead of the law. One desperate night, she flees to Goons, a dirt-poor migrant settlement in the Florida Everglades—and, strange to say—it feels something like home. There's folks she likes (the low-down, wild-eyed Fast Black), folks she mostly loves (like Big Red, her law enforcement “connection”), and more than a few folks she just plain can't stand. Through it all, she remains downright nuts about the one gift God gave her—her precious daughter Maureen.
But growing up with a mama like Ruby is enough to make any half-sane girl wish for
something—anything—else. And when Maureen gets the chance to explore the “real” world, you can bet
she's going to take it…and run like hell.
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