BookBrowse Reviews What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jimenez

BookBrowse:

Blending humor with heartbreak, this novel explores the lengths people will go to in search of the truth.

Ruthy Ramirez disappeared without a trace after track practice near her home on Staten Island. Just 13 years old and the middle of three sisters, Ruthy already had a reputation for being headstrong, rebellious and something of a troublemaker at school. Fast forward 12 years to 2008, and Ruthy's older sister Jessica sees a woman that looks exactly like her missing sibling taking part in a provocative reality TV show that pits young women against each other.

Despite going by another name and having her hair dyed red, Jessica and her little sister Nina become convinced this is in fact Ruthy, not least because of the distinctive birthmark visible beneath her eye. The women hatch a plan to drive to the show's filming location and orchestrate a reunion with their long-lost sister. When their mother Dolores catches wind of what's going on, she and her god-fearing friend Irene (whose sensibilities often clash with the sisters') soon inject themselves into the plan. This sparks a fraught, funny and potentially life-changing journey for all of them.

The story weaves back and forth in time, narrating life before and after Ruthy's disappearance. The narration is predominantly first-person, told from the perspectives of all three sisters and their mother. This could have become confusing, but author Claire Jimenez gives each of the women a distinct voice, allowing the reader to easily keep track of whose viewpoint we're following at any given moment.

Interestingly, we never really see the days, weeks or months immediately following Ruthy's disappearance. While there is arguably some emotional intensity lost here by glossing over the most acute period of the family's grief, this allows Jimenez to focus instead on the experience of life long after loss. Each of the three remaining Ramirez women has personal struggles to contend with in their day-to-day lives, be it Jessica trying to juggle a new baby with her intense work in a hospital, or Nina dealing with a dead-end job folding lingerie despite years of successful college study. This captures the reality that life carries on in all its mundanities, an idea which is built upon by the Ramirez family's ever-present snark, employed to add humor to their otherwise difficult circumstances. It also becomes clear, however, that without closure, the past will continue to haunt them.

Though it never defines who they are, the Ramirez women's Puerto Rican identity also plays a role in the narrative. We see the microaggressions and mockery they face from their white peers, but also the shame the sisters feel for not being fluent in their mother's first language of Spanish, as though they are pulled awkwardly between two opposing cultures. They also briefly address what they deem a lack of effort and interest from the police concerning Ruthy's initial disappearance, which they believe is related to her ethnicity (see Beyond the Book). Another interesting thread touched upon is the voyeuristic and manipulative nature of reality TV, though this theme could have been more fully developed.

While the climax veers into melodrama reminiscent of a soap opera, the novel remains sensitive to the characters and their struggles. As such, it never loses sight of its ultimate goal: to give voice and humanity – flaws and all – to missing people from minority groups, too often relegated to mere statistics.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in March 2023, and has been updated for the February 2024 edition. Click here to go to this issue.