Ruth Ware
Author of The Woman in Cabin 10
About the Author
Ruth Ware grew up in Lewes, in Sussex. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in North London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. In a Dark, Dark Wood is her début thriller. Ruth's show more second novel, The Woman in Cabin 10, became a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Works by Ruth Ware
We Will Be Watching 5 copies
L'heure tourne - Nouveauté Ruth Ware 2025 - Autrice de La Disparue de la cabine n°10 adapté en film sur Netflix (2025) 2 copies
Associated Works
Murder in Harrogate: Stories Inspired by the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival (2024) — Contributor — 11 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1977
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Manchester University
- Occupations
- waitress
bookseller
press officer - Agent
- Eve White
- Short biography
- Ruth Ware (born 1977), alias for Ruth Warburton, is a British psychological crime thriller author. Her novels include In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015), The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), The Lying Game (2017) and The Death of Mrs Westaway (2018). Both In a Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10 were on the U.K.'s Sunday Times and The New York Times top ten bestseller lists. She is represented by Eve White of the Eve White Literary Agency. She switched to Ruth Ware to distinguish her crime novels from the young adult fantasy novels published under her name, Ruth Warburton.
Ruth Ware was born in 1977 and grew up in Lewes. She studied English at Manchester University, where she developed a fascination with Old English and Middle English texts.
Before her writing career, Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller and a publicist. She also spent time in Paris, teaching English as a foreign language.
Ware now lives near Brighton. - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- West Sussex, England, UK
- Places of residence
- West Sussex, England, UK
Paris, France
London, England, UK - Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
You know the scenario where a woman accuses a man of sexual misconduct and his lawyer tries to show how the woman was drunk or on drugs or was mentally unstable and misunderstood his client’s behavior, and besides, she was a bad person in general. Ruth Wade uses an implied lawyer scenario to set up her mystery, which has an underlying he-said/she-said dynamic. Lo (Laura) Blacklock, is an alcoholic and drug dependent. She is frequently irrational in her relationships, prone to anxiety show more attacks if she doesn’t get her medication, suffers from sleep-deprivation, and is not a little paranoid. The victim of a break-in, she’s one of those people social media often likes to deplore: she refuses to “get over it.” Although her aspiration is to take over her boss’s position in a travel magazine by substituting for her on a luxury cruise, there is a running joke where the staff keeps explaining the schedule and the amenities because she never gets around to reading the press kit (she’s supposed to be writing a puff piece about the cruise). Beyond that, she is not a particularly sympathetic person: lacking much self-awareness, she seems to have an excuse for everything, especially her drinking; she shows no empathy for the ship’s staff on their first trip. She comes across as a ship’s security officer’s worst nightmare. She is petty: when she has to switch clothes in order to escape probable murder, she frets about having to give up her expensive boots. On the other hand, she leaves her cat unattended in her flat and has to ask her mother to feed the pet via e-mail after the ship of fools has already left. (OK, if you don’t like cats this criticism may seem itself a little petty.) She’s a poor detective; the solution has to be explained to her by the person who plays a key part in the mystery. But despite all this, the underlying truth is that something bad has indeed happened, and the “hysterical” woman has really witnessed it. So the reader becomes a juror witnessing a clever lawyer’s obfuscation and needs to see through it. However, in real life a corroborating woman in cabin 10 cannot always be pulled out of a hat by the prosecution. Without a corroborating witness, could we legitimately accept Lo’s version of what happened, or would we be accepting a counter scenario that could well be considered an overelaborate fictional (illogical, irrational) solution? It could be argued that the implied resolution behind the fiction is that female solidarity and extra-legal means are the only way to overcome patriarchal power. From her boyfriend Judah Lewis’s perspective, Lo’s empathy for the female instrumental in a murder plan that would lead to Lo’s potential death does not seem logical. If rational explanations are a means of disguising the oppression of irrational male ends that use women as means, only irrational female solutions allow one to break out of the loop. And Wade is honest enough to see that victimized women do not have to be role models. show less
A reality tv show involving five carefully selected couples who are dumped on an island South West of Java goes awry and turns into a lords of the flies horror show.
Originally crafted to test the fidelity of the partners, and engineered to bring down the popular youtuber and murderer of the producer’s niece, Conor, after a terrible storm hits the island, one staffer and one participant are dead, and another seriously wounded. The Tv producer’s yacht and its crew has gone awol and the show more reality show gears from a relationship drama into a survival count-down.
What evolves is a typical survival scenario with a clear villain, Conor, who abuses his girlfriend, Zara, and manipulates everybody else with a smile and display of physical prowess. Conor’s character is wonderfully painted, including the tropes of the misogynist, closet racist, youtuber with millions of MAGA-type followers. Never quite explicitly racist or misogynist, he airs such feelings of the gut by asking silly questions and at crucial moments does not ask any questions at all. Conor at first seems to be the guy who will guide everyone to an organised survival – introducing water and food rationing, safely storing that same food and water in his water villa out in the sea, coming up with chores and tasks, answering all queries with a smile and a voice of reason. But gradually the eyes of all remaining participants are opened to the level of viciousness that is displayed by Conor behind the voice of reason. When Bayer, a pumped up gym alpha with the sturdy body of a rugby player, confronts Conor’s policy of hoarding and rationing of food and drink with plain aggression, hitting him on the nose, Conor responds in kind and kills Bayer with his bare hands in front of everyone. Slowly awareness of their dire circumstances sinks in, but people respond differently. Yet all men pay the price with their lives.
The thriller consists of three parts – The Calm, the Storm, and the Reckoning. We hear the voice of Lyla, in the first person. She is a virologist ending a one year post-doc contract with little hope of an extension, who wishes to help out the fledgling actor career or her boyfriend Nico. For Nico the reality tv show is his chance of a lifetime to make it big. In part 2 we get snippets of a different POV, that of Zara the co-dependent girlfriend of Conor, in the form of a diary reporting on what purportedly happened on the island in the 2 weeks or so after the storm hit. This diary reads like the report of an unreliable witness – all of Conor’s actions are sanitised and presented from a favourable point of view. Conor is a hero. Only at the very end, we as readers, understand why this is so. But the initial creepy effect of the alternative narrative presented by Zara’s diary is that of distrust, suspicion of a less than happy ending in the offing, and outright fear that Zara has gone gaga out of fear for her abusive boyfriend. show less
Originally crafted to test the fidelity of the partners, and engineered to bring down the popular youtuber and murderer of the producer’s niece, Conor, after a terrible storm hits the island, one staffer and one participant are dead, and another seriously wounded. The Tv producer’s yacht and its crew has gone awol and the show more reality show gears from a relationship drama into a survival count-down.
What evolves is a typical survival scenario with a clear villain, Conor, who abuses his girlfriend, Zara, and manipulates everybody else with a smile and display of physical prowess. Conor’s character is wonderfully painted, including the tropes of the misogynist, closet racist, youtuber with millions of MAGA-type followers. Never quite explicitly racist or misogynist, he airs such feelings of the gut by asking silly questions and at crucial moments does not ask any questions at all. Conor at first seems to be the guy who will guide everyone to an organised survival – introducing water and food rationing, safely storing that same food and water in his water villa out in the sea, coming up with chores and tasks, answering all queries with a smile and a voice of reason. But gradually the eyes of all remaining participants are opened to the level of viciousness that is displayed by Conor behind the voice of reason. When Bayer, a pumped up gym alpha with the sturdy body of a rugby player, confronts Conor’s policy of hoarding and rationing of food and drink with plain aggression, hitting him on the nose, Conor responds in kind and kills Bayer with his bare hands in front of everyone. Slowly awareness of their dire circumstances sinks in, but people respond differently. Yet all men pay the price with their lives.
The thriller consists of three parts – The Calm, the Storm, and the Reckoning. We hear the voice of Lyla, in the first person. She is a virologist ending a one year post-doc contract with little hope of an extension, who wishes to help out the fledgling actor career or her boyfriend Nico. For Nico the reality tv show is his chance of a lifetime to make it big. In part 2 we get snippets of a different POV, that of Zara the co-dependent girlfriend of Conor, in the form of a diary reporting on what purportedly happened on the island in the 2 weeks or so after the storm hit. This diary reads like the report of an unreliable witness – all of Conor’s actions are sanitised and presented from a favourable point of view. Conor is a hero. Only at the very end, we as readers, understand why this is so. But the initial creepy effect of the alternative narrative presented by Zara’s diary is that of distrust, suspicion of a less than happy ending in the offing, and outright fear that Zara has gone gaga out of fear for her abusive boyfriend. show less
Impressive gothic-horror story about a nanny in a isolated, spooked, Scottish Highland home, looking after three (cruel, unruly) children.
From the start it is clear that Rowan has something to hide – she is not completely honest. The story is told in the first person and consists of a flowing narrative moving forward in time from the moment Rowan applies for the job as nanny, the interview, to her arrival at the isolated family home, a day before the wealthy couple of architects is off on show more an extended work visit, dumping their three children on Rowan – a baby, called Petra, and two older girls – Ellie, five, sensitive and needing comfort, and Maddie, eight, behaving like a cruel queen bee. However, the thriller starts with a desperate number of draft letters from Rowan, in prison, pleading for help to a solicitor (Mr Wrexham) who is recommended to her by her fellow inmates as a guy who does wonders for desperate cases, such as Rowan’s.
From the word go, Rowan has to work hard to gain the confidence of the three girls, the housekeeper (a local woman, who slights her) and the jack of all trades, called Jack (duhhh…). Maddie, the oldest girl, who dominates her sister Ellie in a toxic way, warns Rowan of impending disaster and ghosts. On top of that Rowan has to struggle with the high-tech apps and sophisticated appliances that the modern architect couple has installed in their home. This adds a source of frustration and despair to the mix, which is very familiar to the reader (we all struggle with dysfunctional or misbehaving apps). Thirdly, there are the stories and rumours, which are dark to say the least – the house is haunted, a young girl died and her father went mad, a poison garden on the premises is used as a playground by the girls. To cap it all, there is a fourth ingredient, which is sure of creating suspense – a mysterious locked door, possibly leading to the attic, from where footsteps at night can be heard. Within four days, Rowan is brought to her heels, and one of the girls is dead. Rowan’s own perverted secret comes out and she is carted off to prison as prime suspect for child murder.
Well written, modern gothic. I read the last half of the book compulsively, driven by a sense of dark suspense. Chapot! show less
From the start it is clear that Rowan has something to hide – she is not completely honest. The story is told in the first person and consists of a flowing narrative moving forward in time from the moment Rowan applies for the job as nanny, the interview, to her arrival at the isolated family home, a day before the wealthy couple of architects is off on show more an extended work visit, dumping their three children on Rowan – a baby, called Petra, and two older girls – Ellie, five, sensitive and needing comfort, and Maddie, eight, behaving like a cruel queen bee. However, the thriller starts with a desperate number of draft letters from Rowan, in prison, pleading for help to a solicitor (Mr Wrexham) who is recommended to her by her fellow inmates as a guy who does wonders for desperate cases, such as Rowan’s.
From the word go, Rowan has to work hard to gain the confidence of the three girls, the housekeeper (a local woman, who slights her) and the jack of all trades, called Jack (duhhh…). Maddie, the oldest girl, who dominates her sister Ellie in a toxic way, warns Rowan of impending disaster and ghosts. On top of that Rowan has to struggle with the high-tech apps and sophisticated appliances that the modern architect couple has installed in their home. This adds a source of frustration and despair to the mix, which is very familiar to the reader (we all struggle with dysfunctional or misbehaving apps). Thirdly, there are the stories and rumours, which are dark to say the least – the house is haunted, a young girl died and her father went mad, a poison garden on the premises is used as a playground by the girls. To cap it all, there is a fourth ingredient, which is sure of creating suspense – a mysterious locked door, possibly leading to the attic, from where footsteps at night can be heard. Within four days, Rowan is brought to her heels, and one of the girls is dead. Rowan’s own perverted secret comes out and she is carted off to prison as prime suspect for child murder.
Well written, modern gothic. I read the last half of the book compulsively, driven by a sense of dark suspense. Chapot! show less
AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware
Can't wait to watch this on Netflix when it drops October 10, 2025!
Before diving into the sequel, I needed a refresher cruise, so I re-listened to “The Woman in Cabin 10.”
Hanging out with Lo Blacklock on this floating palace feels like being trapped in a fancy panic room with endless champagne and the constant sense that the walls are closing in.
Who knew luxury could feel so claustrophobic?
The Aurora looks glossy and exclusive, but out show more on those inky waters, the vibe turns deliciously creepy. Suddenly, all that five-star glitz is a velvet-lined trap, and those smiling guests seem just a little too polished.
There were times I wanted to reach through my headphones and give Lo a pep talk or maybe a mild slap. Some of her choices felt straight out of a horror movie, but it added to the fun. Paranoia, whispers behind doors, and that dizzy feeling of being gaslit? It’s all here.
I’m giving this one 4 unnerving stars. The vibes are modern Gothic, and I loved revisiting it before jumping into the sequel. If you want a thrill ride with a side of champagne, Ware’s your girl.
#TheWomanInCabin10 #RuthWare #SimonSchusterAudio #CapCut #ImogenChurch show less
Can't wait to watch this on Netflix when it drops October 10, 2025!
Before diving into the sequel, I needed a refresher cruise, so I re-listened to “The Woman in Cabin 10.”
Hanging out with Lo Blacklock on this floating palace feels like being trapped in a fancy panic room with endless champagne and the constant sense that the walls are closing in.
Who knew luxury could feel so claustrophobic?
The Aurora looks glossy and exclusive, but out show more on those inky waters, the vibe turns deliciously creepy. Suddenly, all that five-star glitz is a velvet-lined trap, and those smiling guests seem just a little too polished.
There were times I wanted to reach through my headphones and give Lo a pep talk or maybe a mild slap. Some of her choices felt straight out of a horror movie, but it added to the fun. Paranoia, whispers behind doors, and that dizzy feeling of being gaslit? It’s all here.
I’m giving this one 4 unnerving stars. The vibes are modern Gothic, and I loved revisiting it before jumping into the sequel. If you want a thrill ride with a side of champagne, Ware’s your girl.
#TheWomanInCabin10 #RuthWare #SimonSchusterAudio #CapCut #ImogenChurch show less
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READ in 2023 (4)
Everand 2023 (1)
READ in 2024 (1)
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READ IN 2021 (1)
Secrets Books (1)
Female Author (1)
To Read (3)
Titoli bestiali (2)
Already read (2)
Everand 2024 (1)
2010s (1)
Into the Woods (1)
READ 2025 (1)
First Novels (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 30
- Also by
- 5
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- Popularity
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- Rating
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