Cynthia Bond on the Historic Family Photos Behind Ruby
The author of the latest Oprah's Book Club 2.0 selection takes you behind the scenes of her writing process.
By Cynthia Bond
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
From The Family Album
"My grandfather, James Marshall, the inspiration for Ruby's grandfather. He was a carpenter and a douser—he found water with a divining rod for most of the families in Liberty."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
From The Family Album
"The house he built, where I imagined Ruby lived."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
From The Family Album
"My Aunt Carrie, from whom the character Neva was drawn."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
"From right, my Aunt Wilma, my Uncle Emerson and my Aunt Phoebe at Carrie's funeral."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
"My Aunt Iantha. I have heard that she was taken to a jail cell while her sister Carrie was being murdered. She later moved to New York. She was very glamorous, and served as the inspiration for Charlotte Bell, Ruby's mother, in the book."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
"Another photo of my Aunt Iantha. My mother said that Aunt Iantha was in a successful dance troupe that traveled to Europe in the 1950s.When someone asked her sister Essie if Iantha passed for white in New York, she said, 'No. They never asked.'"
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
"My Aunt Wilma."
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
"Another photo of my grandfather, James Marshall."
Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D
One of Bond's outlines for the original novel.
Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bond
Bond working on the final rewrite in a rented guesthouse.
Photo: Marko Metzinger/Studio D
Ruby in the making, complete with Bond's extensive notes to herself.
From the
March 2015 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
