Title: Through Our Own Wrong Eyes: The Story of Miss Ruby and Paul Oscar
Author: Florence D’Angelo
Imprint: Independent Thinking
Release Date: June 12, 2026
ISBN: 979-8985658248
eBook ISBN: 979-8295713132
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, Drama
Availability: Paperback or eBook
Language: English
Paperback: 408 pages
Item Weight: 1.25 pounds
Dimensions: 6.14 x 0.91 x 9.21 inches
Review
The 1930s were filled with pivotal events in American History. Prohibition was near its end, the Great Depression was in full swing, Franklin D. Roosevelt had become President, and the first of the three Dust Bowl waves had struck the American and Canadian prairies.
It is during this turbulent time in history that a 26-year-old alcoholic drifter, Paul Oscar, takes the 14-year-old wide-eyed idealist Miss Ruby on their first date.
Author of The Journalist M.F. Moonzajer once said, “Age does not matter in most relationships, but in marriage, it matters a lot. If you marry a younger person, you have to babysit, and if you marry an older person, you have to follow orders.”
In Florence D’Angelo’s Through Our Own Wrong Eyes, readers will explore how an older husband’s decisions shape a young woman’s life and love through snapshots of their life together.
When it comes to novels, especially those that are based on true events, such as Through Our Own Wrong Eyes, readers must always be aware that while the subject matter may be dark and uncomfortable, it doesn’t mean that the author agrees with the subject matter.
This story does involve a relationship and marriage with an inappropriate age gap between a grown man and a young child. It is very much an unsettling situation that even our main character’s friend, Vera, comments on this, feeling as unnerved as readers potentially may feel while reading the earlier parts of this novel.
Paul Oscar, the second main character and the aforementioned 26-year-old grown man, does make comments regarding Ruby’s young body in a sexual way. He is also an alcoholic drifter who reunites with Ruby during his time as a math teacher in the basement of The Church of God Holiness in Lamar, Colorado.
The situation grows even darker when Ruby refuses his advances, he turns to the bottle, and becomes harsher with her. While the parents of both Paul and Ruby don’t accept it, they do their best to support the pair as they stumble through the first few years of their marriage.
The novel refuses to romanticize their relationship, portraying the marriage between Ruby and Paul as raw, uncomfortable, and inherently heavy. At several points in the story, Ruby holds regrets about marrying, having children too young, and having less choice in her marriage with Paul.
For example, Paul impulsively decides to quit his job and uproot their life by leaving Colorado for California without any input from Ruby. This matter is made worse when he informs her that while he is learning to weld, she could live with his parents, which tells her that he spoke to them and not her.
Paul routinely throws himself headfirst into these whims. Despite her exhaustion and fleeting thoughts of divorce, Ruby remains by his side. Even when the relationship turns physically abusive, and Paul threatens her life during a drunken rage, she makes the heartbreaking decision to stay, despite her sons’ desperate pleas to leave.
This choice carries a steep cost. Their sons, Oscar and Roy, harbor deep resentment toward their father, a trauma that distorts their own understanding of marriage, as evidenced later by Oscar’s relationship with his wife, Jing. Executing a novel with such heavy, emotional beats requires a skilled hand, and D’Angelo proves her mettle by meeting every agonizing moment with the gravity it deserves.
The characters never feel static.
With each decade that passes in the novel, the characters change and react to their surroundings in a natural and organic way. Each character also possesses a distinct, internally consistent voice. The story’s strength is characterization and character growth, which keep the readers invested.
Most importantly, the narrative carries an unmistakable authenticity. Reading it feels akin to sitting down with a grandmother and listening to her raw life story, a testament to D’Angelo’s skill as both a storyteller and a faithful conduit for the journal that inspired the book.
With believable characters, a gritty realness, a fantastic and heavy plot, great writing, and an ending that sticks the landing, Through Our Own Wrong Eyes is a good addition to any bookshelf, and gains a recommendation from me. ★★★★★ – Elijah B. (Explore Authors Magazine)
Where to buy: eBook edition
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