Ruby

The only family Ruby Landry has ever known are her loving gaurdian, Grandmere Catherine, a Cajun spiritual healer, and her drunken, outcast Grandpere Jack. Although thinking about her dead mother and mysterious father sometimes makes her feel as mournful as the wind sighing through the spanish moss, Ruby is grateful for all she has. Her life is filled with hope and promise...especially when her attraction for handsome Paul Tate blossoms into a mysterious, wonderful love. But Paul's wealthy parents forbid him to associate with a poor Landry, and Grandmere urges her to follow her dream of becoming a great painter, foreseeing a time when Ruby will be surrounded with riches in the dazzling city of New Orleans! Yet she cannot know how close that uncertain future looms... In a faded photograph, Ruby glimpses for the first time the image of her father-and learns of a shameful deception and a shocking scheme of blackmail that now must come to light. Stunned by these revelations, she is devestated when Grandmere dies, leaving her to seek out her father in his vast New Orleans mansion, Ruby clings to her memories of Paul to keep her heart alive. For only their love can save her now.... Copyright 1994 by Virginia C. Andrews Trust. Cover art by Lisa Falkenstern. Published by POCKET BOOKS, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.