Ruth and Pen is the debut novel of Emilie Pine, the Irish author of the best seller The Notes to Self. This contemporary poignant story is set in Dublin during one day in October 2019. It follows two women Ruth, a 43 year old married psychotherapist and Pen, an autistic 16 year old as they both deal with their problems and emotions. Neither of them know the other.Their paths cross briefly, as often happens in a city as small as Dublin. I found it reminded me often of James Joyce's Ulysses, which was also set around Dublin on a single day in June 1904. It is similarly exhilarating and compassionate. The opening chapters alternate between Pen and Ruth and are told through a third person.Further in we meet Ruth's husband Aidan, Pen's mother Claire and her friend Alice who give us their point of view.. Ruth struggles in her marriage as she tries to conceive through IVF, Pen, because of her autism finds school and making friends challenging. They meet accidently at an Extinction Rebellion rally. This is a beautifully written novel that shines a light on the difficulties experienced by these two very different women as they navigate their grief and love courageously. It is an intimate portrayal of the innermost thoughts and feelings of the two protagonists as they try to deal with their fears and feelings of loneliness while dealing with the constraints and expectations that modern society places in them.

I had high hopes for this book as someone who loves Irish contemporary writing, particularly stories about sad women.

This book follows two women, Ruth and Pen, across the course of one day where their paths interweave and connect.

I found it difficult to get truly engrossed in this novel, however there were some really nice passages of writing and I found myself highlighting a lot of quotes.

I would be interested to read more writing by Emilie Pine (especially after loving her non-fiction, Notes to Self) but this one fell a little flat for me unfortunately.

Excellent read, don’t overlook this one!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. It's quite...interior...so if you don't enjoy living the experiences of protagonists through their thoughts - if you find that intense - then this won't be the book for you. I really enjoyed how intimate it is, and enjoying coming to know the two characters of Ruth and Pen. A deep, emotional and thought-provoking read, and I'm so glad to have read it.

I loved notes to self, so when I picked this up I was excited!

This is an emotional read, the two main characters are at different stages of life.
The book focuses on their self doubt and this creates a book that is thoughtful and thought-provoking!

I enjoyed this book and will be looking out for Emilie Pines next book!

I just finished Ruth and Pen by Emilie Pine and I don't know yet what to think of it. What I do know is that it talks about motherhood and failed pregnancies in the most interesting way I've found yet in that it goes into multiple perspectives with compassion and care. I kept expecting Ruth and Pen's lives to become more linked as the narrative progressed, but I guess the connection is about searching for hope in what seems like a dismal future as Pine correlates failed parenthood with climate disaster and a loss of answers when answering the question of what does the future look like. However, I much preferred reading about Pen rather than Ruth as it seemed to be that Pine felt more confident in this point of view. 3.5/5

This quiet book is a sketch of a day and the time leading up to it. It is a portrait of two women. This work is an interesting study of; identity; sexuality, politicisation, relationships, neurodiversity, family and living in the 21st century. I would recommend this work, especially to fans of Sally Rooney.

Well-written and engaging. I loved how the author was able to take a tiny slice of two lives, and use the minutiae to look at some of life's bigger questions, like love, connection and loss.

Thank you to @penguinhamishhamilton for letting me read Ruth & Pen in advance! It's stream-of-consciousness novel centring on Ruth (a woman in her 40s who has experienced infertility) and Pen (an autistic teenager hoping her best friend likes her back), and in its one-day setting, its constant pacing of the streets and its complete rootedness in one particular city (in this case, Dublin) it reminded me a bit of Mrs Dalloway. However, I loved Mrs Dalloway – and I did not love this. I imagine this book must be such a treat for people who know Dublin well, and I did really enjoy the realism of this: I love specificity in all things in literature, especially geography, and this book absolutely delivered. It's set on a specific day in a specific city referencing specific events, a real slice of life. But I guess I just didn't find the story particularly interesting; it never really grabbed my attention. I suppose my particular complaint is that: with these characters and their particular set of circumstances, the way the novel progressed wasn't the most interesting way I could imagine these characters' lives unfolding. But I did like this, and I'm sure I'll read whatever Emilie Pine writes next.

Ruth & Pen is set over the course of a single day, swapping between the narratives of Pen, an autistic teenage girl going to an Extinction Rebellion protest with plans to take the girl she likes on a surprise date that evening, and Ruth, a woman dealing with infertility and a failing marriage. Despite the two very different narrators, the narrative explores both characters' lives fluidly as they both struggle with love and loss and figuring out their places in the world.

Reading this book, I was especially glad to see autism in women represented, especially when Emilie Pine writes it so well. Pen was incredibly realistic and relatable for me, and her storyline grabbed me from the start. Ruth's storyline didn't capture me quite as quickly, likely due to her lack of relatability for me as a reader (though I imagine many other readers would connect with her narrative much faster than I did), but she grew on me a lot as a narrator. This book is also the one of the few I've read with a main relationship involving an asexual character and I was glad to see that explored—especially since this relationship didn't fall into the trope of 'autistic people don't have/want sex'. This relationship managed to tug and my heartstrings, despite only covering a single day's events. Reading both Pen and Ruth's heartbreaks and reflections upon them was incredibly cathartic to read, and their triumphs were equally emotional. This was a particularly tender story that I enjoyed right from the start, and I'm looking forward to buying a hardcopy of this book (and not only so I can look at the gorgeously designed cover again and again and again).

I really loved this book - charming, full of joy and gentle comedy, and with a real insight into modern life. Highly recommended.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done an amazing job at creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I'll admit I struggled with this book. I couldn't really connect with either character and I felt it was slightly too niche. The writing is interesting and well put together so i would ne interested in reading more from Pine.

I haven't published this review on social as the last time I gave a 3 star review the authors friends left really nasty messages.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I read enjoyed this complex story that covered many topics including love and loss. Well written and engaging it caught my attention from the beginning. A good read.

An emotive read. I enjoyed this text. I found both characters interesting and wanted to discover more about both Ruth and Pen. I also enjoyed reading Ruth's husband's perspective throughout as well.

It is a well plotted and well written story.

This book cuts right to the heart of grief, heart break and figuring out who you are. Pen is a gay teen with autism, struggling to work out how to navigate a world that isn’t made to
support her and how to love the way she needs to. Ruth is a married woman, struggling with the battle of trying to conceive and losing her babies and trying to work out how to navigate all this devastation with her husband as they are both fundamentally changed by all the heart break.

I like that this it 2 separate stories that are joined in the middle. That we see how all the important characters are struggling to do their best in a world that has no normal.

Today Ruth is going to address her failing marriage that is being torn apart by insurmountable grief. She is going to find the words to tell her husband that she has been wounded.
Today Pen is going to find the words to let her friend know how she feels. She may feel differently to others, she still feels though.
Two different kind of love stories entwined..

I really enjoyed Emilie Pine's Notes to Self but found this novel hard going. The two eponymous characters are Ruth, a therapist dealing with childlessness, and Pen, a neurodiverse teenager struggling with first love. The characters are likeable enough but why these two? Why are they there? They intersect only briefly and are not held together by any aspect of the story. The whole piece reads more like a character study than a novel, it meanders and lacks any narrative thrust. The action takes places over one day and I therefore wonder if it is meant to be inspired by Joyce, but for me it falls flat in the attempt.

I haven’t read Pine’s work before but when I read the premise for this, I knew I had to request it. So I was delighted to be approved for this book.

Ruth & Pen is set over the course of a single day, following two women who don’t know each other but are both at a turning point in their lives, where the events that take place on this day will determine a lot. Ruth's marriage to Aidan is in crisis. Today she needs to make a choice - to stay or not to stay, to take the risk of reaching out, or to pull up the drawbridge. For teenage Pen, today is the day the words will flow, and she will speak her truth to Alice, to ask for what she so desperately wants.

This book was utterly gorgeous and heartbreaking all at once. I was invested in both of these womens’ stories from the very beginning. Ruth’s story was devastating. Her struggles with IVF and the tensions in her marriage as a result of it. I thought Pen’s story was equally as captivating - a neurodivergent, queer teenage girl falling in love with her best friend and navigating those feelings. I thought Pine did a brilliant job in the portrayal of autism in Pen’s character.

I was convinced that Ruth and Pen would be linked fully somehow throughout the book but we see very little linkage (won’t give away any spoilers), which is the only thing that disappointed me slightly. I was expecting a full-circle, “aha!!” moment.

Nonetheless, that does not take away from its sheer beauty. It is such an emotive read though. It definitely took me longer to read than I thought it would as a result of this. But the pacing of the book, the way the plot was structured and the characters were all just brilliant. Pine completely pulls on the readers’ heartstrings throughout.

Overall, a fantastic Irish novel that I am sure is going to have a big impact over the next few months. I definitely want to read more of Pine’s work now.

Huge thanks to Penguin Hamish Hamilton & NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC.

"‘It’s good to remember everyone is made of the same things,’ Claire says, ‘even if they’re different in lots of other ways.’"

For Pine's first fictional novel I really enjoyed it! I have read her book 'Notes to Self' which became one of my favourite collections that I read in college.

There wasn't really much of a storyline, the book was more focused and centred around the two main characters. Normally I'm not a fan of such books but Pine's writing made up for it!

I did take me a bit of time to read since I wasn't as inclined to always pick it up but I'm glad that I finished it in the end! I look forward to seeing if the author publishes anything else!