JESSICA RUDD
Authors - A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Ruby Blues (2011)
This sequel to Campaign Ruby takes place two years into Max Masters' first term as Australian Prime Minister. Ruby has become his strategic communications advisor. But her boyfriend Luke, who once worked for Masters, isn't happy with her long hours. Ruby's certainly got her hands full at work, with damaging stories about the Government being leaked to the media and having to deal with her colourful and over-enthusiastic intern, Bettina. Plus someone is sending threatening messages to the chief of staff, Diana, who once had a fling with Max. This really doesn't have much of a plot, instead it reads more as a series of mishaps - from speech snafus and Twitter trouble to waxing woes and vomit vexations. Some are hilarious which is just enough to save the book.
Campaign Ruby (2010)
Ruby Stanhope gets an email announcing that her position with a London investment bank has been made redundant. As she goes to collect her free box to pack up her belongings, she fires back a sarky email to her bosses that goes viral. That night she attacks a timely delivery of Australian wine, and ends up purchasing herself a plane ticket to Melbourne. Staying in the Yarra Valley with her aunt, she is offered a job by Luke, the chief of staff for the Leader of the Opposition Max Masters, just as a snap election has been called. The long-sitting PM has just been ousted by his Treasurer Gabrielle Brennan. Thrust on to the hectic campaign trail, Ruby's soon jetting across the country - sometimes saving the day with her trusty toolkit, sometimes leading things astray. This is like an Australian version of Sammy's Hill by Kristin Gore (the daughter of former US vice-president Al Gore). Written by the daughter of ex-prime minister Kevin Rudd, the part that makes it so fascinating is how it details the ousting of a prime minister by the woman who becomes the nation's first female PM - which is exactly what happened to her father several months AFTER this book was finished. This is a very funny, easy-to-read debut - and would easily travel beyond Aussie shores.
