APRIL 2023 - AudioFile
Claire Jiménez narrates her hilarious yet heartrending debut, giving voice to a Puerto Rican family that is still reeling from the shock of having lost their 13-year-old daughter, Ruthy, 12 years earlier. Oldest daughter Jessica, youngest daughter Nina, and mom Dolores reckon with Ruthy's disappearance in different ways--with frustration, exhaustion, incomprehension, and hurt. Memories of the past come to light when it seems that an older, world-weary Ruthy may have surfaced in an unexpected place. With a propulsive, rhythmic delivery, Jiménez brings out the energy of this wounded family, creating a vibrant listening experience. While some may wish for stronger aural cues to distinguish the family members' perspectives, Jiménez's warm delivery will sweep listeners up and have them hoping for Ruthy's eventual return. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 12/05/2022
A Staten Island Puerto Rican family reckons with the disappearance of a 13-year-old girl in Jiménez’s brilliant debut. In 1996, middle daughter Ruthy Ramirez, a defiant, wildly independent eighth grader, mysteriously vanishes after track practice. Twelve years later, guilt-ridden matriarch Dolores harbors fear, resentment, and rage and has become obese, and determines to shed weight with help from a Christian exercise DVD. Dolores’s youngest daughter, Nina, a recent college graduate with few job options, returns to Staten Island for a lingerie retail job (“Better than any political science class... really taught you how deeply patriarchy was linked to capitalism,” she narrates). Jessica, the oldest, an overworked nurse’s aid, shoulders the burden of her baby daughter and caring for Dolores. The sisters, especially Jessica, shield secrets: Nina wants to go to medical school, and Jessica wonders if the person who sexually abused her as an adolescent ever crossed paths with Ruthy. Then, one night, Jessica sees a woman she believes to be Ruthy on a reality show called Catfight, where five women live in a Boston condo and settle disputes with violence. Jessica and Nina hatch a plan to drive to Boston to rescue their sister, and after Dolores learns of the trip, she enlists her church friend Irene, and all four are soon en route to the Catfight condo, where mayhem ensues. The author perfectly harnesses the Ramirez women’s alternating viewpoints to illuminate how the years have worn on them, and in the stunning ending, she cannily reveal the truth behind Ruthy’s disappearance. This is a knockout. Agent: Jane von Mehren, Aevitas Creative. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"A page-turner with heart, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez has it all—a haunting mystery, lovable characters, heartbreak, and hope—while also being downright hilarious. I devoured this book and look forward to whatever Claire Jiménez writes next."—Ana Reyes, New York Times bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick The House in the Pines
“Jiménez unflinchingly—and sometimes hilariously—explores the complexity of family dynamics and the fierce love among mothers, sisters and daughters.”—People
“Claire Jiménez traces how a family copes years after a devastating tragedy. The result is a moving portrait of a fractured family – and the thrilling journey they take to find out what happened to Ruthy Ramirez.”—Time
"A rollicking, heartfelt tale of family, grief, and intergenerational healing."—Elle
“[An] assured debut.”—Vanity Fair
“If true crime is your guilty pleasure, you absolutely must find out what happened to Ruthy Ramirez…. Compelling…"—Associated Press
“A funny and heartbreaking examination of sisterhood, generational trauma and the bonds that hold families together.”—Today
“Jiménez brilliantly explores the media’s obsession with white women who go missing as opposed to women of color, the cycles of generational violence, and the beauty of a family coming together.” —Shondaland
“There’s a delightfully subversive and maverick quality to the way first-time novelist Jiménez gives her characters the freedom to tell the truth as they see it … Jiménez brings bravery to the page, and it’s her strong storytelling and humor that make this an outstanding debut.”—Kirkus (starred review)
"For every moment of sorrow, there are wildly comical conversations and situations between the Ramirez family, Irene, and supporting characters. Readers will likely root for the family and for Jiménez, an author to watch."—Library Journal (starred review)
“A fantastic debut that is full of attitude, authenticity, and authority. This book is hilarious, heart-breaking, and ass-kicking at the same time."—Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy
"At turns desperate and witty, fresh and familiar, Jiménez’s debut taps into universal themes of familial relationships and shines a light on the lasting intergenerational effects of colonialism, violence, racism and tradition." —Ms. magazine
"Brilliant ... This book is a knockout."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Sympathetic and fiery Latina characters shine in this warm and moving novel portraying a down-to-earth family with deep loyalty and longing for closure.”—Booklist (starred review)
"Crackling with life, wit, humor, pain and personality. Readers will be tugged by the hope and despair alongside these true-to-life characters. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez offers observations about race, class, family and the fate of missing girls beyond its title character.”—Shelf Awareness
"Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is at once hilarious and heartbreaking. An original novel about mothers, daughters, and sisters, about a family broken by a profound loss. Jiménez is both storyteller and cultural critic, giving us an unflinching rejection of respectability politics, characters who love and fight, who are flawed and vulnerable and real. This book will stay with me a long time.”—Jaquira Díaz, author of Ordinary Girls
“This novel paints a vivid family portrait and explores the familial bonds between women, colonialism and cycles of generational violence.”—The Story Exchange
“Part mystery, part thriller, and filled with only the tender, snarky bite family can induce, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez promises to be a debut you won't want to miss.”—LitReactor
"What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, from the first pages, grips you like an excellent thriller and unfolds with surprising beauty. Claire Jimenez gives us religion, intergenerational trauma, reality TV, high school drama, and sisterly love. Every narrative turn and revelation provides a jolt. We're dealing with a writer deeply in touch with what us readers need. What a pleasure." —Gabriel Bump, author of Everywhere You Don’t Belong
"I loved this book. Equal measures hilarious and haunting, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is about a family who must keep living in the face of sudden loss. The humor makes the pages glide, but there’s true heartache at the center of this story, and I held my breath as I reached the end—full of such hope and fear for these women. Claire Jiménez is a stand out talent."—Crystal Hana Kim, NBF 5 under 35 honoree of If You Leave Me
"The universe of Claire Jiménez’s brilliant debut novel, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, sparkles with several generations of Puerto Rican women navigating issues of race, colonialism, gender and faith in a world cut through displacement and the quotidian challenges of day-to-day living. These memorably imagined women are imbued with a rich sense of cultural complexity, and Jiménez manages to capture a world-view rich with faith and magic, lending her work a deeply human force that is most compelling. Jiménez’s comic sense and timing are achieved with incredible skill and sensitivity."—Kwame Dawes, author of UnHistory with John Kinsella
“Often funny, subversive, and an urgent exploration of family, grief, and womanhood, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez reinforces Claire Jiménez as a writer for our times. With a meticulous eye that captures the occluded truths of the Ramirez women, Jiménez has written a beautiful triumph.”—Xavier Navarro Aquino, author of Velorio
“This is a great debut novel, told from the points of view of the different characters, with some fun LOL moments, and a mystery you get engaged in, and want to learn the outcome.”—Red Carpet Crash
"A fast-paced, engrossing mystery . . . What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez has happened to all of us, in different ways across every generation, and the magic of Jiménez’s tremendous debut is that it never stands on a righteous soapbox, yet the message is clear, down to the last word of the acknowledgments."—Chapter 16
NBF 5 under 35 honoree of If You Leave Me Crystal Hana Kim
I loved this book. Equal measures hilarious and haunting, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is about a family who must keep living in the face of sudden loss. The humor makes the pages glide, but there’s true heartache at the center of this story, and I held my breath as I reached the end—full of such hope and fear for these women. Claire Jiménez is a stand out talent.
author of UnHistory with John Kinsella Kwame Dawes
The universe of Claire Jiménez’s brilliant debut novel, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, sparkles with several generations of Puerto Rican women navigating issues of race, colonialism, gender and faith in a world cut through displacement and the quotidian challenges of day-to-day living. These memorably imagined women are imbued with a rich sense of cultural complexity, and Jiménez manages to capture a world-view rich with faith and magic, lending her work a deeply human force that is most compelling. Jiménez’s comic sense and timing are achieved with incredible skill and sensitivity.
author of Everywhere You Don’t Belong and it Gabriel Bump
"What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, from the first pages, grips you like an excellent thriller and unfolds with surprising beauty. Claire Jimenez gives us religion, intergenerational trauma, reality TV, high school drama, and sisterly love. Every narrative turn and revelation provides a jolt. We're dealing with a writer deeply in touch with what us readers need. What a pleasure.
author of Velorio Xavier Navarro Aquino
Often funny, subversive, and an urgent exploration of family, grief, and womanhood, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez reinforces Claire Jiménez as a writer for our times. With a meticulous eye that captures the occluded truths of the Ramirez women, Jiménez has written a beautiful triumph.
author of Ordinary Girls Jaquira Díaz
Claire Jiménez's What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is at once hilarious and heartbreaking. An original novel about mothers, daughters, and sisters, about a family broken by a profound loss. Jiménez is both storyteller and cultural critic, giving us an unflinching rejection of respectability politics, characters who love and fight, who are flawed and vulnerable and real. This book will stay with me a long time.
APRIL 2023 - AudioFile
Claire Jiménez narrates her hilarious yet heartrending debut, giving voice to a Puerto Rican family that is still reeling from the shock of having lost their 13-year-old daughter, Ruthy, 12 years earlier. Oldest daughter Jessica, youngest daughter Nina, and mom Dolores reckon with Ruthy's disappearance in different ways--with frustration, exhaustion, incomprehension, and hurt. Memories of the past come to light when it seems that an older, world-weary Ruthy may have surfaced in an unexpected place. With a propulsive, rhythmic delivery, Jiménez brings out the energy of this wounded family, creating a vibrant listening experience. While some may wish for stronger aural cues to distinguish the family members' perspectives, Jiménez's warm delivery will sweep listeners up and have them hoping for Ruthy's eventual return. S.A.H. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-12-24
A story of family, fury, a missing girl, and what society doesn't see.
Twelve years ago, 13-year-old Ruthy Ramirez disappeared after track practice one day, never to be seen again. Left in the black hole where there is “no such thing now as a map” are the women in Ruthy's family, who never get over her loss. Told from the alternating perspectives of Ruthy’s younger and older sisters, Nina and Jessica; her mother, Dolores; and Ruthy herself, this is a story of the fights women encounter and the ways they survive, set in a Pentecostal Puerto Rican community in Staten Island. More than a decade after Ruthy’s disappearance, Jessica is convinced she's seen her on Catfight, a reality TV series where women literally fight their cast-mates to stay in the town house where they're filming and win the grand prize. Jessica and Nina begin binge-watching the show, analyzing every detail about the woman onscreen, comparing her with their memories of Ruthy and their expectations of whether a near-homeless raging alcoholic is the woman Ruthy could have grown up to become. They try to keep this secret from their diabetic mother, but their plan unravels when Dolores figures out that they're not heading off to a retreat for young Christian women but are instead driving to Boston, where the show is filmed. The three end up road-tripping together, along with a friend, and it’s Dolores, not her daughters, who schemes her way into a nightclub where the Catfight girls will perform. There’s a delightfully subversive and maverick quality to the way first-time novelist Jiménez gives her characters the freedom to tell the truth as they see it, whether it’s Dolores negotiating with God in expletive-laden prayers or Nina explaining the fallout of graduating from college with an expensive biology degree only to end up folding lingerie for a toxic White boss. The book's humor alongside Jiménez's willingness to include everything from pop culture to intergenerational trauma is the reason this book is a page-turner.
Jiménez brings bravery to the page, and it’s her strong storytelling and humor that make this an outstanding debut.
