Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World's Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her

by Robin Gerber

Barbie and Ruth is about Ruth Handler, co-founder of Mattel and creator of the Barbie doll. The book opens with her appearance in court, in December 1978, on charges of financial fraud. This is the story of an extraordinary and determined entrepreneur. Barbie was named after her daughter, Barbara, and was partly inspired by a display of dolls they saw on a holiday in Switzerland. After she resigned from Mattel, Ruth went on to create a breast prosthesis for women who, like her, had had a mastectomy for breast cancer.