Ruby Red Trilogy

The Ruby Red Trilogy is a series of three fantasy novels by German writer Kerstin Gier. The three books are: Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue and Emerald Green. The books have been translated into over twenty-seven languages and sold internationally. The series follows the story of Gwyneth Shepherd, a time-traveling girl living in contemporary London. Nobody knows that Gwyn has the time traveling gene, except for her and her friend Lesley.

Plot summary

Ruby Red

Gwyneth Shepherd, a 16-year-old student, feels dizzy for the first time during lunch at her school in London. Not long after, she unintentionally jumps through time while going out to shop for groceries. At first, Gwyneth is doubtful about her jump in time, since her cousin Charlotte Montrose has always been destined to have inherited the time travel gene that is passed down through the females in their family. Charlotte had been prepared for that duty her whole life, and resents Gwyneth for messing up her life plans. Gwyneth experiences two more uncontrolled jumps through time, during the third of which she witnesses herself, or a doppelgänger of hers, kissing a boy she has never met at a ball in the 1700s. After her third jump, Gwyneth’s best friend Lesley convinces her to tell her mother, who had apparently counterfeited Gwyneth’s birth documents to protect her from the Guardians. The Lodge is skeptical of the circumstances, but decide to watch Gwyneth to confirm that she has in fact inherited the time travel gene. Gwyneth travels through time once more and is finally acknowledged as the final time traveler, the twelfth, whose symbolic gem is the Ruby. Gwyneth’s blood is fed to the chronograph , the time travel machine that contains secrets of its own, so that she can use it travel through time smoothly and avoid uncontrolled jumps. The chronograph is also the second one made, the first one having been stolen by Lucy, the daughter of Gwyneth's uncle Harry, and Paul, Falk de Villiers younger brother. Gwyneth is assigned a traveling partner to keep an eye on her, the arrogant and disapproving Gideon de Villiers. Soon after this, Gwyneth is scheduled to meet the founder of the lodge, the powerful Count Saint-Germain. For reasons unexplained to Gwyneth, her mother is strictly against the meeting. Despite this, Gwyneth travels to meet the Count, hoping she might find some answers. However, Gwyneth is only left with more questions, and is also suspicious of the Count, who is believed to possess telekinesis. After the meeting, the stagecoach of their carriage is instructed by someone unknown to take the two to a park, where they are promptly attacked by three men. Gideon and Gwyneth ward them off, then travel back to their present time. The next day, Gwyneth is called back to the lodge, where she is surprised to find that she is needed in order to talk to someone in the past, her great-great grandmother, and the eighth time traveler, Margaret Tilney, in order for her blood to be read in the chronograph, since Gideon had made two attempts to gather Margaret's blood, but both times, she had refused. The two travel back in time where Margaret is expecting them, despite the exact date that was set in the chronograph to travel back in time being kept secret. Lucy and Paul make their appearance, urging Gwyneth to trust them, and to make sure that all twelve time traveler's blood not be read into the chronograph, for fear that the big event that will happen that may cause more destruction than good. Gideon threatens Lucy with a shotgun, and makes her escort him and Gwyneth out the house, and as the two are running away, she tells Gwyneth to look up The Green Rider. The two make their escape to a nearby church, inside a confessional booth, where Gideon, unexpectedly, kisses Gwyneth. .^[1]

Sapphire Blue

In the prologue, Lucy and Paul are traveling back from watching Hamlet the play in 1602 when they witness a murder. In the present, Gideon has just kissed Gwendolyn when they are disturbed by a gargoyle demon named Xemerius, whom only Gwendolyn can see. They go back to their own time and travel by taxi back to the Lodge. Along the way, Gideon reveals that he lives alone in an apartment and after his father died, his mother remarried a rich French man, and the two moved to France and had another child named Raphael, Gideon's younger brother. He also reveals that he finds the time travel gene to be more of a curse, since it means he cannot travel outside England unless in the company of the Guardians and the chronograph. Xemerius, follows them back to the Temple, where Gwendolyn allows him to follow her around, believing that he will come in useful for information. Gideon and Gwendolyn meet with the members of the Inner Circle to discuss how Lucy and Paul knew about their visit to Lady Tilney. All the members, aside from Mr. George and Gideon, suspect Gwendolyn told them, though there is no proof. Gwendolyn is sent to elapse to the year 1948, the same year as the London Olympic Games, in order to fulfill her quota of time travel for the day. After landing in 1948, despite Mr. George's assurance that no one would be there, Gwendolyn meets Lord Lucas Montrose, her grandfather in the alchemical laboratory. Lucas explains that Gwendolyn gave him a note to meet in that room. While talking, Gwendolyn explains that she is his granddaughter, that Lucy and Paul stole the chronograph and went to the year 1912, and about her current predicament of being the Ruby in the time traveling circle, her suspicions about Count-Saint Germain, her confusion over the secret of the chronograph, and her feelings towards Gideon. The two promise to meet again, at the later time of 1956, and Lucas promises to store a key in the bricks, as well as the password. The next day at breakfast, Lady Arista tells Gwendolyn that Charlotte will from now on be teaching her how to be a proper time traveler, much to Gwendolyn's dismay. After school, Gwendolyn and Charlotte are taken by Mr. Marley to the Temple where Gwendolyn meets Giordano, who has an immediate dislike for her. Gwendolyn is taught dance while at the same time being quizzed on history, all in preparation for a soiree that Gwendolyn must attend on orders of Count-Saint Germain. After lessons, she is taken back home by Gideon who is distraught that Raphael has run away from home, though the next day at school, Lesley, Cynthia, and Gwendolyn discover that he would be attending St. Lennox High with them. On their way to the Temple, Gwendolyn is given shocking news from Xemerius that Gideon, having elapsed earlier in the day, was knocked in the head by someone and left unconscious, though later on, she finds out that he is okay. After dance and history lessons, she is sent to elapse to 1956 where she meets Lucas under the disguise of being his cousin, Hazel, and the two go to a cafe. Lucas tells her that he found out that elapsing to the past, then using the chronograph to elapse further back into the past was entirely possible, and Lucas sent Lucy and Paul to 1602 to see Hamlet. When they traveled back, they told Lucas of the murder they witnessed, and are shocked to find it was Count-Saint Germain who murdered Lancelot de Villiers, the first time traveler, and his ancestor. The two head back to the Temple, and before Gwendolyn disappears, he tells her that the Count had enemies in the Florentine Alliance, that he had private documents not recorded in the Annals, and that reading all twelve of the time traveler's blood into the chronograph was not the only thing that had to be done in order to reveal its secret. After traveling back to the past, Gideon is there, who questions why Gwendolyn smelled of smoke, though she tries to play it off that she smoked. Gwendolyn invites Lesley over, and Mr. Bernard brings Lord Montrose's copy of The Green Rider, which has a series of numbers on a paper; a code that Lesley breaks, but can't make out the meaning of the decoded message. The next day, Gwendolyn and Gideon elapse, and Gideon reveals he believed he was hit in the head by Gwendolyn, but knows that she wouldn't do anything to harm him. The next day is the soiree, and after traveling to the church and elapsing, they meet Rakoczy, who takes them to the soiree hosted by Lord and Lady Brompton. Gideon is led away by Lavinia Rutland and Gwendolyn befriends Lady Brompton and another woman, while having an immediate dislike for Mr. Merchant, who groped her, and Lady Lavinia, who flirts with Gideon. After accidentally drinking punch tinged with liquor, Gwendolyn sings the song Memory from the musical Cats, with Gideon on the piano. Afterward, she meets the Count again, and also Lord Alastair, a man who descended from Conte di Madrone who founded the Florentine Alliance as a means of ridding the earth of demons, whom he believes are the time travelers. The ghost of Conte di Madrone behind Lord Alastair shouts curses at the travelers, along with making several threats. Gideon and Gwendolyn leave the soiree to go to the church and back to the present, though Gideon is mad that Gwendolyn had drunken the punch. Lesley sleeps over and the two search for clues to the Green Rider, with no results. The next day, Raphael correctly guesses the series of numbers and letters is a sort of GPS code, and while they are left to figure it out, Gwendolyn heads to the Temple to elapse to the day before the soiree to meet with the Count. After Gideon is sent away with Lady Lavinia, the Count is delighted to see that Gwendolyn has fallen for Gideon, stating that women in love were much easier to control, and congratulates Gideon for his work. Shocked, angry, and sad, Gwendolyn confronts Gideon about it after they elapse to the present again, to which he denies pretending to fall in love with her, but doesn't deny tricking her. Gwendolyn leaves the Temple, angry and heartbroken. In the epilogue, Paul meets with Lord Alastair, who gives him the Count's secret papers in exchange for the family trees of the male and female line of time travelers. Paul refuses to give the papers, claiming Alastair broke their promise by not coming alone and bringing his men. The three duel, but Paul is badly injured in his arm, and Gideon suddenly shows up, saving Paul, but not the documents about the family trees. Before Paul disappears, he urges Gideon, who truly does love Gwendolyn, to read the secret documents and keep the circle from being closed in order to keep Gwendolyn from dying.^[2]

Emerald Green

After the events of Sapphire Blue, Gwendolyn explains her heartbreak to Lesley, who sympathizes with her, but also gently reminds her that she has a mission to do. With the help of Raphael, the coordinates that were left after decoding the numbers found in Lord Montrose's copy of The Green Rider point to Gwendolyn's house being where the treasure is most likely hiding. Xemerius confirms this after going throughout the house and discovering that there was a chest between the walls behind the painting of one of Gwendolyn's ancestors. Nick wakes up and notices Gwendolyn talking to Xemerius about the hidden treasure, and agrees to help out. The two go down to remove the painting, only to be caught by Mr. Bernard, who explains that a chisel and hammer was needed to break through the bricks, as he was the one who hid the treasure on behalf of her grandfather, and agrees to do it that evening, when Lady Arista and Glenda will be gone. At school, Cynthia invites Lesley, Charlotte, and Gwendolyn to her party, though all her guests are forced to wear green, and Lesley dismisses Raphael's attempts to help out more with the mysteries, though Gwendolyn correctly guesses that Lesley likes Raphael. After school, Gideon meets up with Gwendolyn at the Temple and offers to stay friends with her, to which she refuses and storms away. After elapsing back to 1956, she meets her grandfather, Lucas, again, and the two try to work out what he hid in the chest behind the bricks. Eventually, Lucas figures out that it is the first chronograph, and Gwendolyn realizes that with it, she can travel back in time whenever she wants, though with a certain limit, and Lucas brings her to the Dragon Hall and explains to her how to work the chronograph, and uses the chronograph to have Gwendolyn travel even further back in time to visit Lady Tilney, who was expecting her. Lady Tilney gives her a knitted pig, which Gwendolyn later gives to her sister, but does not give her any advice or warnings, much to Gwendolyn's dismay. After traveling back to the present, Gideon finds her again and tries to patch things over, but Gwendolyn still refuses and heads home. After dinner, Mr. Bernard starts to hammer through the bricks, while Charlotte is kept busy playing Scrabble with Maddy. The chest is brought out, and the key, which Gwendolyn found after elapsing a few days earlier before she met Lucas the first time, is the same one that Gwendolyn had given to Lesley. Upon opening the chest, the first chronograph is found, which is given to Gwendolyn. That same night, Gwendolyn elapses to meet Lucas in the past again, and though he is now married to Arista and they have had Harry, he still does not have much information about Lucy and Paul. The two agree to meet again much closer to Gwendolyn's birth date, when he is Grandmaster of the Lodge, and when he has more time to collect information about Lucy and Paul. After returning to the present, she is caught by Charlotte, who demands to know what she is carrying, but after Mr. Bernard intercepts before she can forcefully find out, Charlotte vows to find out what Gwendolyn is up to. Gwendolyn makes sure the chronograph is hidden inside a wall she tore down at the back of her closet, stuffed inside a stuffed animal crocodile, before she falls asleep. The next day, Charlotte is announced to be sick, though Gwendolyn suspects she faked her illness to search her room, but later on in the day, Gwendolyn pretends that she has caught the cold as well to avoid going to the ball that was to be held that day. At the Temple, the meeting with the Count at the ball is postponed, and Gwendolyn elapses, then is sent home. That same night, she elapses again, though is nearly caught by Glenda and Charles who at the time, was living in her room. She meets with her grandfather who gives her the book Anna Karenina, though the middle of the book is all the information he is able to collect since the last time she visited him and the first and last 300 page are the genuine text. After going back to the present, she is intercepted by Charlotte again, who claims that she is closer to finding out what Gwendolyn is hiding. The next morning, while Gwendolyn is "resting" from her fake cold, Mr. Marley, and another man named Mr. Brewer, after a tip from Charlotte, come into Gwendolyn's room and discover the chest the chronograph was hidden in, creating quite a mess and a ruckus, though after they leave, Gwendolyn assures Maddy that the chronograph was moved and the only thing they would find in the chest was her school atlas and a collection of Jane Austen novels. Though Mr. Marley, who later comes to collect Gwendolyn to go to the Temple to elapse, is apologetic about the matter, Mr. Whitman is suspicious. While elapsing, Gideon goes along with her, also wondering why Charlotte suspected her of having the chronograph, though Gwendolyn lies and says it was used as a card table for Texas hold 'em. Gideon later reveals he has gotten Elaine Burghley's blood, and that he has suspicions about the Count's motives. He then asks Gwendolyn if she was willing let someone die if there were a cure for all the diseases of mankind. Gwendolyn answers that even one human life seems to high a price to pay, though from a practical viewpoint, she would allow it. The next day, Gwendolyn is over her cold, and she is prepared to meet the Count again at the ball held by Lord and Lady Pympoole-Bothame, the parents of James, at her school, though in the past, it was their house, and it is revealed that Charlotte has lost more of her credibility, after stealing Lesley's backpack, calling the Lodge numerous amounts of times and searching Gwendolyn's room, but still not finding the chronograph. While being led by Mr. George to elapse, he reveals the reason they must go to the ball is to lure Lord Alastair, as well as the traitor among the Guardians, so it can be accurately recorded in the Annals. After elapsing to the ball, Gideon tells the Count that he got Lady Tilney's blood, and he then leads Gwendolyn to dance. During the dance, Lady Lavinia dances with Gideon while Gwendolyn meets up with James and urges him to meet her at Hyde Park to talk about his horse Hector. After running away from Gideon's reprimanding about attracting attention, she meets a drunken Rakoczy who tries to get her to drink something strong, but is thwarted by Gideon. Gwendolyn runs away again to an empty room, and Gideon follows her, trying to assure her that he has no feelings for Lady Lavinia. While arguing, Gwendolyn discovers her past self staring at them from her third uncontrolled time travel, and kisses Gideon as a distraction. After her younger self leaves, Lord Alastair, Lord Alcott, and Lady Lavinia corner them in the room where it is revealed that Lord Alcott is the traitor among the Guardians, and Lord Alastair paid a good amount of money to both Alcott and Lavinia to help in his plans. Lavinia managed to take away Gideon's concealed gun, and the two are left defenseless. Lavinia is sent away and Alcott and Alastair fight Gideon and Gwendolyn. Although Gideon manages to pin Alastair's arm to the wall with a saber and Gwendolyn kills Alcott, Alastair manages to run his sword through Gwendolyn. After a brief sensation of becoming a ghost, Gwendolyn finds herself back in the present, and aside from a scratch, she is unharmed. She is sent home, but Gideon shows up during supper asking to see Gwendolyn, and the two go up to her room, where Gideon expresses his relief to find her alive, and reveals that, according to the papers given to him by Paul, she is technically immortal, which is how she survived the attack, and that in order to get the philosopher's stone, the secret of the chronograph that will cure mankind's diseases, someone has to die, which is Gwendolyn. Lesley later shows up, and after deciding Gideon no longer needs to be excluded, explains how Lucas, Lucy, and Paul found out that the Count intends to get the philosopher's stone and make himself immortal. However, Gwendolyn must take her own life to have the prophesies come true, and to allow the Count to become immortal, and she is supposed to do it because of Gideon. The next day, when Gwendolyn is taken back to elapse, along with her mother who was also invited, she accidentally overhears the Inner Circle's interrogation of her mother. After tracking down the midwife who supposedly delivered Gwendolyn, it is revealed that Lucy was the one who gave birth to Gwendolyn, and Grace gave the midwife a large sum of money to record the wrong date on the birth certificate and to say that Grace was the one who gave birth. Lucy and Paul were forced to leave Gwendolyn behind, and Grace and Nicholas raised her as one of their own. After hearing the shocking news, Gwendolyn and Gideon escape to the chronograph room and elapse, despite Gideon needing to finish out Operation Black Tourmaline and Sapphire. After traveling back to the present, Gideon is taken away to meet with the Inner Circle while Gwendolyn and her mother clear matters up. After meeting with Madame Rossini to gather green costumes for Cynthia's party that night, and some clothing from 1912, Gwendolyn takes Gideon to the roof where she hid the chronograph, knowing Charlotte is afraid of heights. Gideon has his blood read into the chronograph, and with the circle now complete, the philosopher's stone is revealed, and Gideon hides the salt-like substance. The two go to the church, change into their 1912 clothes, and elapse to meet Lady Tilney, Lucy and Paul, where they try to come up with a plan to keep the circle on the second chronograph from being closed, now that they know the truth, and they figure that the Count is somehow pulling strings from the past to get the Guardians to do his bidding. Later on, after returning to the present, they meet Lesley and Raphael at the party, where they find their classmates in a drunken manner after the punch is spiked with vodka, and Charlotte, also drunk, is singing karaoke and revealing all she knows about Count-Saint Germain and the time travelers. Gideon gets her home while Lesley, Raphael, and Gwendolyn go back to Gideon's apartment to come up with a plan for finding out how to keep the circle from being closed on the second chronograph, and the possibility that the Count is still living in the present, disguised as someone else. The next day, Lesley, Gideon, Raphael, and Gwendolyn travel to the subway tracks, and Gideon and Gwendolyn elapse to try and stop the younger Gideon from delivering the letter about Operation Black Tourmaline and Sapphire. They run into Gideon's younger self and knock him out, and Dr. Harrison appears, assuring them that he won't deliver the letter under instructions from Lady Tilney. They elapse back to the present, then go back to the past and meet James at Hyde Park where Gideon gives him the smallpox vaccine. They elapse back to the present, they go to the Temple to elapse and meet the Count. Gwendolyn stays behind to talk with the Count while Gideon is sent back to carry out the operation. However, Gwendolyn is poisoned by Rakoczy, and after traveling back to the present, it is revealed that Mr. Whitman is Count-Saint Germain, but under cosmetic surgery. After Gwendolyn was born, the Count began to age, as he was the one previously immortal, and in order to successfully become immortal again with the philosopher's stone, Gwendolyn had to take her own life over love. Lucas came close to discovering the truth, which was why Marley senior had to poison him, and Lucy and Paul, who also discovered the truth, had to hide with the chronograph in 1912. Mr. Whitman held the Guardians at gunpoint and locked them in the chronograph room after the circle closed on the second chronograph, and plans to kill Gideon once he elapses back to the present in order to force Gwendolyn to take her life. Gideon comes back and Mr. Whitman shoots him, and Gwendolyn is about to take her life when Dr. White, who was injured earlier by Mr. Whitman, hits him before falling back down again. Gideon gets up, unharmed, and reveals that after the circle closed, he took the philosopher's stone to 1912, instead of to the Count, where Lucy and Paul dissolved it in water and he drank it, making him immortal, and able to live forever with Gwendolyn. In the epilogue, Lucy and Paul, now part of the Secret Service, are expecting another baby, and have both taken new names as Mr. and Mrs. Bernard.^[3]

Characters

^[4][5][6]

Gweneth Shepherd

Gweneth Sophie Elizabeth Shepherd is the 16-year-old protagonist of the series. She is the daughter of Grace and Nicolas Shepherd, born on October 7, 1994, though in the third book, Emerald Green, it was revealed that her real parents are Lucy and Paul. She lived a normal childhood, believing her birthday was on October 8 instead, leading her to think she was not the one to have inherited her family's time travel gene. Though, as she later finds out, she did inherit the time travel gene over her cousin Charlotte, and is the last of twelve time travelers, known as the Ruby. She has, differently than the rest of the Montroses, straight dark hair and blue eyes. Gweneth is said to be very clumsy, always accidentally dipping the tie of her school uniform in her lunch and tripping over her own feet. Her father, Nicolas, died of leukemia when she was seven years old and her grandfather died when she was 10. She has two younger siblings, Nick and Caroline, and her best friend is Lesley Hay.

Gideon de Villiers

Gideon is the current male time traveler, the eleventh in the circle, also known as the Diamond or Lion. He was born in 1992 and is 19 years old. He has a flat in London, but has lived with his uncle Falk de Villiers since he was eleven years old. His father is dead and his mother has moved, together with his younger brother Raphael, to live with her new boyfriend, Monsieur Bertelin, in France. Gideon attended a boarding school in Greenwich, where he was captain of the school's polo team and is now studying medicine at the University of London. Together, with Charlotte, he has been prepared for time travel his whole life, resulting in him being very talented and smart, as well as being arrogant and underestimating Gwendolyn, leading him to behave disrespectfully towards her at first, as he thinks she is not good enough for time travel. However, as the series progresses Gideon warms up to Gwendolyn substantially and eventually falls in love with her.

Grace Shepherd (née Montrose)

Gwendolyn, Nick, and Caroline's mother. Like all Montroses, she has curly red hair and blue eyes. Her behavior is often very mysterious and she knows more than she lets on. She also helped Lucy and Paul escape with the stolen chronograph by letting them stay several months at her house in Durham, where she had lived with her husband and children until the death of her husband.

Charlotte Montrose

Gwendolyn's cousin and Glenda's daughter, who was believed to have inherited the time travel gene initially, and so has been prepared for her role her whole life. She is very talented at everything she does and is described as exceptionally beautiful and charming. She is also very arrogant due to the high praise for her abilities since she was young. She holds a grudge against Gwendolyn for taking all of the attention away from her and talks Gwendolyn down every chance she gets. She is also in love with Gideon.

Lesley Hay

Also known as Leslie in German and in some translations, Libby. Gwendolyn's best friend, who also attends St. Lennox High School. She has freckles and blonde hair and is the only one outside of Gwendolyn's family who knows about the time travel secret. At first, she helps Gwendolyn find out the mystery, gathering information from the internet and books. She is very smart and helpful, and encourages Gwendolyn. She lives with her parents and her dog Bertie in an apartment in North Kensington.

Falk de Villiers

Gideon's uncle and Grand Master of the lodge. He is described as looking like a wolf, having amber eyes and dark hair streaked with the white of old age. He had been in a relationship with Grace when they were younger and still holds a small grudge against her for choosing Nicolas over him. He seems to still have feelings for her.

Lucy Montrose

The daughter of Gwendolyn's uncle Harry, and Gwendolyn’s cousin. She ran away from home when she was 17 after falling in love with her time travel partner, Paul de Villiers, when together they uncovered the mystery as to what happens when the blood of all twelve time travelers are fed to the chronograph. Wanting to prevent this at all costs, they escaped to the year 1912 with one of the chronographs. Because of this, they will never be able to return to their own time and are stuck in the past forever. Lucy is 18 years old and is the tenth in the circle, also known as the Sapphire or the Lynx. She has red hair and blue eyes like all the Montroses, and is very petite. In the third book, Emerald Green, Gwendolyn finds out that Lucy is her mother.

Paul de Villiers

Falk's younger brother and the ninth in the circle, he is the black Tourmaline gem or the Wolf. Together with Lucy, whom he had fallen in love with, he stole the chronograph and escaped to the past, never being able to return again. Like his brother, he has dark hair and amber eyes. In the third book, Emerald Green, Gwendolyn finds out that Paul de Villers is her father.

Count Saint-Germain

Born in 1703, he is the founder of the Lodge and was the first time traveler to invent the chronograph, allowing him, and future time travelers, to prevent uncontrolled time jumps. He is the fifth in the circle, and is known as the Emerald or the Eagle. He seems to have telekinetic abilities and is able to read minds. Essentially, he is the antagonist of the book series.

Others

Lady Arista Gwendolyn's grandmother, who is very strict and always reprimands her and her siblings. She prefers that Charlotte was the Ruby.
Glenda Montrose Gwendolyn's aunt and Grace' sister, like her daughter she is very arrogant and stuck-up. She also prefers that Charlotte was the Ruby, and holds a grudge against Grace for keeping the secret of the real birth date of Gwendolyn, as well as stealing the attention away from Charlotte.
Lord Lucas Montrose Gwendolyn's deceased grandfather, the former Grandmaster of the Lodge. Gwendolyn travels back in time to visit him on multiple occasions, as he is critical in helping her uncover the mystery of the chronograph and stopping the Count’s evil plans.
Madeleine Montrose Gwendolyn's great aunt and Lucas' sister. She occasionally has visions of the future.
Nick Shepherd Gwendolyn's younger, 12-year-old brother. Grace and Nicholas’s son.
Caroline Shepherd Gwendolyn's younger, 9-year-old sister. Grace and Nicholas’s daughter.
Lady Margret Tilney Gwendolyn's great-great-grandmother, who was born in 1877 and died in 1944. She accommodates Lucy and Paul after their escape in 1912 and is the eighth time traveler, known as the Jade gemstone or the Fox. Gwendolyn also visits Lady Tilney multiple times in her quest for answers.
Miroslav Alexander Leopold Rakoczy Also known as the "black leopard", he is the bodyguard of the Count and is described as having black, lifeless eyes. He is known to have experimented with various drugs and comes from Transylvania.
Mr. Bernard The butler of the Montrose household. It is later revealed that he is a descendant of Lucy and Paul’s second child (Gwendolyn’s blood sibling), who was born in 1919 when they were living under the assumed name of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard.
James August Peregrin Pympoole-Bothame The school ghost who is Gwendolyn's friend. He was born March 31, 1762, but died at the age of 21 of smallpox. He is not aware that he is dead and consistently believes that he is merely dreaming.
Mr. Thomas George A member of the inner circle of the Lodge, and one of the only members Gwendolyn likes and trusts to some extent. He was the assistant of her grandfather and later his best friend, which explains why he supported Gwendolyn when she and her mother first came to the Lodge.
Dr. Jakob White The Lodge doctor and also an inner circle member. He always wears black suits and is exceptionally rude and grim towards everyone, because of his young son's death several years before the events of the first novel. Due to Gwendolyn’s ability to see spirits, she occasionally sees the ghost of his son, Robert, near his father.
Mr. Whitman Gwendolyn, Lesley, and Charlotte's English and History teacher at St. Lennox school and also an inner circle member. He is described as being a womanizer due to his good looks. Lesley and Gwendolyn seem to be the only ones immune to his appeal, as Lesley always humorously compares him to a squirrel, because of his large brown eyes. Mr. Whitman is later revealed to have been the temporary immortal Count of St. Germain in disguise.
Madame Rossini The costume designer at the Lodge. She is French and speaks with a recognizable accent, which grows thicker when she is angry. Madame Rossini is in charge of dressing the time travelers in authentic outfits so that they do not stand out when they travel to the past. She favors Gwendolyn as the Ruby over Charlotte and frequently calls her a "swan-necked beauty".
Raphael Bertelin Gideon’s younger brother who had been living in France with their mother and her current boyfriend. Later in the series, Raphael helps Gwendolyn and Gideon on their adventures. He is also a love interest of Gwendolyn’s best friend Leslie.
XemeriusThe demon that follows Gwendolyn around after he witnesses her and Gideon kissing in the church he was haunting. While called a demon, he is more accurately described as a cat-like ghost that can talk. He becomes very helpful for spying on people to get information for Gwendolyn, as she is the only one that is able to see him.
Lord Alistair The arch-enemy of the Count Saint-Germain who is the head of the Florentine Alliance, dedicated to eradicating the line of time-travels whom he believes are demons. Lord Alistair is followed around by the ghost of his ancestor, Conte di Madrone, who founded the Florentine Alliance. Only Gwendolyn can see the Count with her special ability. Lord Alistair repeatedly tries and fails to kill Count Saint-Germain.

The Circle of Twelve

^[7]

Reception

The series has gained worldwide popularity after being published in over 27 languages, including German, English, Chinese, Czech, Danish, French, Greek, Hungarian, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Norwegian.^[8] More than two million books in the series have been sold in Germany alone.^[9] In America, Ruby Red won the American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults award.^[10]

Adaptations

Ruby Red

A movie based on the first book, Rubinrot, was released in Germany on March 14, 2013. Maria Ehrich was cast as Gwendolyn, Jannis Niewöhner as Gideon, and Laura Berlin as Charlotte. The film was directed by Felix Fuchssteiner, and the screen play was written by Katharina Schöde and author Kerstin Gier. It was mainly shot in Germany but also in a few locations in London. The film was produced by Lieblingsfilm/Munich, mem-film/Berlin, in co-production with Geißendörfer Film and Fernsehproduktion/Cologne, Tele München/Munich. The original version of the movie is in German, but subtitles have been developed in English.^[11] Rubinrot was nominated for the International Film Music Critics Award (IFMCA) for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film in 2013, but did not win.^[12]

Sapphire Blue

The sequel to Rubinrot, Saphirblau, has been made into a movie as well, released in Germany on December 18, 2014. Many of the actors, actresses, producers, and screenwriters are the same as those of the first movie.^[13] The movie was released earlier in Luxembourg and Austria, on August 14 and 15, 2014, respectively.^[14] Like Rubinrot, Saphirblau was filmed mainly in Germany.

References

1. ↑ Gier, Kerstin (10 May 2011). Ruby Red. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR). pp. 1–336. ISBN 1429921218. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
2. ↑ Kerstin, Gier. "Sapphire Blue". Macmillan Publishers. Henry Holt and Co. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
3. ↑ Kerstin, Gier. "Emerald Green". Macmillan Publishers. Henry Holt and Co. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
4. ↑ Gier, Kerstin (10 May 2011). Ruby Red. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR). pp. 1–336. ISBN 1429921218. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
5. ↑ Gier, Kerstin (30 October 2012). Sapphire Blue. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR). pp. 1–362. ISBN 0805092668. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
6. ↑ Gier, Kerstin (8 October 2013). Emerald Green. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR). pp. 1–464. ISBN 0805092676. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
7. ↑ Gier, Kerstin (30 October 2012). Sapphire Blue. Henry Holt and Co. (BYR). pp. 1–362. ISBN 0805092668. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
8. ↑ "audiobook Journal-Issue March 2013 p.22" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-08-24. 
9. ↑ "Stern-"Ruby Red" trilogy sold millions of copies". Retrieved 2014-08-24. 
10. ↑ Kerstin, Gier. "Sapphire Blue". Macmillan Publishers. Henry Holt and Co. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
11. ↑ "Ruby Red (Rubinrot)". German Films. Retrieved 8 December 2014. 
12. ↑ "Rubinrot". IMDb. Retrieved 9 December 2014. 
13. ↑ "Sapphire Blue (Saphirblau)". German Films. Retrieved 8 December 2014. 
14. ↑ "Saphirblau". IMDb. Retrieved 8 December 2014. 

External links

• Ruby Red. Macmillan. Retrieved 24 February 2013. 
• Sapphire Blue. Macmillan. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
• Emerald Green. Macmillan. Retrieved 7 December 2014. 
• http://www.rubinrot-derfilm.de/ (Official movie site)