Tightly woven web

Anna Lawrence Pietroni (Chatto & Windus, £12.99)

Oxford University graduate Anna Lawrence Pietroni’s debut novel of mysterious quests and tragic histories is a rich, tightly woven web.

It’s marketed as a tale of witches and mermaids, so I was expecting a story firmly in the fantasy genre. But Ruby’s Spoon is actually a book of dark near-realism, a study of complex family relationships and secrets in a world as pained and impoverished as it is fanciful.

The eponymous Ruby is a 14-year old resident of industrial Cradle Cross, a fictional island in the British Isles. Until now her life has revolved around her elderly grandmother, her distant widowed father and her job in ‘Captin’ Len’s grimy, greasy Fish Shop.

When the enigmatic and tortured Isa Fly shows up on a hunt for her long-lost sister, Ruby is drawn into Isa’s search, risking the cold but reliable surroundings she has always known.

At times, Ruby’s Spoon lacks the confidence and pace to make it a real page turner; Lawrence Pietroni enjoys dwelling on the finer details of her scenes, which can make a day feel like a week.

The relentlessly ominous tone also feels a little overplayed at times: greed, guilt and jealousy drive every twist and the search for light at the end of the tunnel is not necessarily rewarded.

However, it isn’t difficult for the reader to feel drawn into Isa’s search. Ruby’s open, affectionate character and her longing for something better ensures our sympathy and Isa’s charisma and secrecy make her equally compelling.

If you like your stories dark and thick then you’ll like Ruby’s Spoon; every chapter is like a portrait and the depth of Lawrence Pietroni’s imagination in depicting Cradle Cross should ensure her debut novel is a success.