Ruby Red Trilogy facts for kids

The Ruby Red Trilogy is a series of three young adult 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.

Characters

Gwyneth Shepherd

Gwyneth (Gwendolyn in the original) Sophie Elizabeth Shepherd is the 16-year-old protagonist of the series. She is the daughter of Grace and Nicolas Shepherd, born on 7 October 1994, though in the third book, Emerald Green, it was revealed that her real parents are Lucy and Paul. She grows up believing her birthday was on 8 October 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 is physically different than the rest of the Montroses having straight dark hair and blue eyes. Gwyneth 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. She is immortal and has the ability to interact with ghosts and gargoyles

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 to france with her new boyfriend Monsieur Bertelin along with her other younger son Raphael. 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. Underestimating Gwyneth leads him to behave disrespectfully towards her at first, as he thinks she is not good enough for time travel. However, as he believed that Gwyneth is suitable for time travel, he tried to make Gwyneth fall in love with him to make her predictable. But, as the series progresses Gideon warms up to Gwyneth substantially and eventually falls in love with her himself.

Grace Shepherd (née Montrose)

Gwyneth, 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

Gwyneth'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 Gwyneth for taking all of the attention away from her and talks Gwyneth 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. Gwyneth's best friend, who also attends St. Lennox High School. She has freckles and blonde hair and is the only one outside of Gwyneth's family who knows about the time travel secret. At first, she helps Gwyneth find out the mystery, gathering information from the internet and books. She is very smart and helpful, and encourages Gwyneth. 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

Lucy is the daughter of Gwyneth's uncle Harry. She is Gwyneth’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 Montrose and is very petite. In the third book, Emerald Green, Gwyneth 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, Gwyneth finds out that Paul de Villiers 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 Gwyneth's grandmother, who is very strict and always reprimands her and her siblings. She prefers that Charlotte was the Ruby.
Glenda Montrose Gwyneth's aunt and Grace's 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 Gwyneth, as well as stealing the attention away from Charlotte.
Lord Lucas Montrose Gwyneth's deceased grandfather, the former Grandmaster of the Lodge. Gwyneth 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 Gwyneth's great-aunt and Lucas' sister. She occasionally has visions of the future.
Nick Shepherd Gwyneth's younger, 12-year-old brother. Grace and Nicholas’ son.
Caroline Shepherd Gwyneth's younger, 9-year-old sister. Grace and Nicholas’ daughter.
Lady Margret Tilney Gwyneth'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. Gwyneth 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.
Mr. Bernard The butler of the Montrose household. It is later revealed that he is a descendant of Lucy and Paul’s second child (Gwyneth’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 Gwyneth's friend. He was born on 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 Gwyneth likes and trusts to some extent. He was the assistant of her grandfather and later his best friend, which explains why he supported Gwyneth 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 Gwyneth’s ability to see spirits, she occasionally sees the ghost of his son, Robert, near his father.
Mr. Whitman Gwyneth, Lesley, and Charlotte's English and History teacher at St. Lennox school and also an Inner Circle member. He is good-looking and attractive. Lesley and Gwyneth 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 Saint-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 Gwyneth 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 husband. Later in the series, Raphael helps Gwyneth and Gideon on their adventures. He is also a love interest of Gwyneth’s best friend Lesley.
Xemerius The demon that follows Gwyneth 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 Gwyneth, 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 Gwyneth can see the Count with her special ability. Lord Alistair repeatedly tries and fails to kill Count Saint-Germain.

The Circle of Twelve

Adaptations

Ruby Red

A movie based on the first book, Rubinrot, was released in Germany on 14 March 2013. Maria Ehrich was cast as Gwyneth, 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. 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.

Sapphire Blue

The sequel to Rubinrot, Saphirblau, has been made into a movie as well, released in Germany on 18 December 2014. Many of the actors, actresses, producers, and screenwriters are the same as those of the first movie. The movie was released earlier in Luxembourg and Austria, on 14 and 15 August 2014, respectively. Like Rubinrot, Saphirblau was filmed mainly in Germany. Unlike Rubinrot, Saphirblau deviates significantly from the plot of the novel, as does its sequel, Smaragdgrün.

Emerald Green

The sequel to Saphirblau, Smaragdgrün, was also made into a movie, released 7 July 2016 in Germany.