Irv Sternberg

The Ruby Irv Sternberg

The year is 1954. Relieved that the Korean Conflict has ended, Americans are looking forward to more joyful times. The World Series is broadcast in color for the first time, Elvis Presley bursts on to the scene with controversial stage movements, and children are vaccinated against deadly polio. This is the year that author Irv Sternberg has chosen to set his coming-of-age novel, The Ruby, about a recent college graduate pursuing his destiny. Adam Holbrook has started his career in journalism on a weekly newspaper on the Jersey Shore. His article on cranberry harvesting exposes the harsh working and living conditions of migrant workers in the cranberry bogs. He later writes another story exposing a Mafia-type figure trying to gain control of the garbage collection business. Facing threats to his life, Adam learns many of life's lessons while assisting a migrant worker who is determined to repair his little boy's severely broken leg. And Adam finds love in the placid seaside town of Tim's Cove.