The Awakening of Ruth

Summary

Ruth Hoagland’s existence is defined by the rhythmic, salt-crusted isolation of a Massachusetts island, where her primary social tether is a father whose cognitive faculties have been hollowed out by a monomaniacal obsession with phantom pirate hoards. When Bob Winthrop, a yachtsman representing the ephemeral glamor of the urban elite, anchors in her secluded world, Ruth is swept into a transient romance that promises a metamorphosis she is ill-prepared for. Winthrop’s departure to the cacophony of New York leads to an inevitable erosion of memory, leaving Ruth to navigate the sudden vacuum of her father’s death and the discovery of two enigmatic chests. Guided by the altruistic Dr. William Strong and the Reverend Josiah Arbuthnot, Ruth’s narrative shifts from a maritime tragedy to a metropolitan odyssey. The discovery that the 'treasure' is a collection of worthless artifacts leads Dr. Strong to orchestrate a noble deception, funding Ruth’s vocal training with his own life savings under the guise of the chests' value. Her eventual realization of Winthrop’s infidelity with a musical comedy star serves as the catalyst for her return to the island, where the true currency of her life—Strong’s silent, sacrificial devotion—is finally unearthed.

Synopsis

Ruth Hoagland grows up on an island off the Massachusetts coast with no companion other than her father, a half-witted fisherman who spends most of his time hunting for buried treasure. Vacationing yachtsman Bob Winthrop and Ruth fall in love, but Winthrop returns to New York, and after a year, has forgotten Ruth. After finding two chests in a cave, Ruth locates her father unconscious from a fall. She goes to the mainland for help, but returns with the Reverend Josiah Arbuthnot and Dr. William Strong, to find her father dead. Strong, out of kindness, offers to marry her, but Ruth declines, sure that Winthrop will return. She offers to divide the chests with Strong and Arbuthnot, but after Strong discovers they are worthless, he withdraws his savings, and gives Ruth money to develop her voice in New York, saying that it came from selling the chests' contents. After Ruth learns of Winthrop's affair with a musical comedy star, she returns to the island to prepare for her Broadway debut, where she discovers Strong's sacrifice.