Content Warning: Ruby contains graphic descriptions of violence and child abuse, including physical and sexual abuse and assault, incest, infant death, and homicide; potentially upsetting depictions of racism; and intolerance toward gay people. These topics are pervasive in the text.

In 1963, a poised and beautiful Ruby Bell returns from New York City to her birthplace, all-Black Liberty Township in Texas. Over the next 11 years, her mental health declines, earning her a reputation as “howling, half-naked mad” (10). She is often seen wandering the town in a catatonic state, sustaining herself on charity from Miss P, owner of the corner store, P&K. Locals sometimes hear her wailing out in the woods at night and see her digging in the earth with her hands. Most people avoid Ruby, but Ephram Jennings watches her with interest. Ephram is a kindly Black man whose calm nature causes him to go unnoticed by most people, Black and white.

By 1974, Ephram is living with his sister, Celia, who has taken on a motherly role since the loss of their parents. Their father, Reverend Omar Jennings, once presided over the local In-His-Name Holiness Church, until the day in 1937 that his wife, Otha, showed up to a church picnic naked.