FestivePublicIn-person

"The Truth About Ruby Cooper"

Name: "The Truth About Ruby Cooper"
Start: 2026-10-06T19:30:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-06T23:59:00+02:00
Location: New-Orleans-Straße 6, 20457 Hamburg, Germany

New-Orleans-Straße 6, 20457 Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg, Germany
Tue, October 6, 2026 (7:30 pm - 11:59 pm)

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Description

Germany premiere
Reading and discussion with Samuel Benke (German-English) presented by Thalia An event in Liz Nugent's works lasts not seconds, but decades. This is the simple and at the same time disturbing core of her new novel "The Truth About Ruby Cooper." Something happens. Afterwards, life seems to go on. The participants change. But the incident does not disappear, does not become smaller, but more powerful. It changes the internal logic of a family forever – even if no one talks about it anymore. "The Truth About Ruby Cooper" is both a psychological thriller and a family novel: Two sisters seek maximum distance from a disturbing incident. One, although she stays, the other moves far away. But the distance does not undo anything. What happened continues to work: in memories, shifts of guilt, omissions. The novel traces how a single moment leaves a trace through several lives. The tension arises from careful observation. Who knows what? Who has settled into a lie? Nugent does not simply leave traces. She shows how a story takes shape in a character's mind.
A well-made thriller can be a particularly strict literary form. It must not explain too early. But it also must not delay too much. After her international success "Strange Sally Diamond," Liz Nugent again shows how cleverly she can build psychological tension. Liz Nugent (*1967) wrote before her career as a novelist for stage and television. In Germany, she is mainly known for "Strange Sally Diamond." She lives in Dublin. Samuel Benke lives in Berlin and is an author, literary journalist, book blogger, and moderator. In his texts, podcasts, and stage formats, he deals with literature, pop culture, and social issues.

Highlights

Germany premiere of the novel "The Truth About Ruby Cooper"
Reading and discussion with Samuel Benke (German-English)
Organized by Thalia

General Information

The event takes place at the Thalia bookstore in Überseequartier in Hamburg. Liz Nugent's new novel addresses the long-term effects of a disturbing incident on a family and offers an exciting reading with a subsequent discussion.