Bone House
Betsy Tobin Book Review

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Plot Summary of Bone House

"BONE HOUSE

Scribner, Feb 2001, 23.00, 224 pp.
ISBN: 0743201965

    Fourteen years ago, Dora crossed the Channel to settle in the English village. Dora lived by her own rules, but though a big lady, men wanted her and women befriended her because she was fair and honest. She made her living lying with males. About three years later, the narrator's mother, a midwife, helped Dora give birth to a boy whose father is not known.

    Eleven years pass, the boy is big like his mother, but seems a bit slow perhaps because he looks like a man already. However, he reacts like the child he is when Dora dies from what appears to be an accident. The narrator, a maid, beings making inquiries into Dora's death when she learns that her role model of female independence was pregnant and predicted her own death.

    BONE HOUSE is a superb look at a remote English seventeenth century village. The story line centers on the roles of townsfolk and the questioning of the prevalent paradigm. The characters as individuals are fully developed and provide a lucid look at the era, but seem off kilter in relation to one another. Still, Betsy Tobin provides a well-written powerful historical fiction that places a magnified look at a bygone era.

Harriet Klausner

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout.

"
Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of Bone House

Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).

Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%

How difficult to spot villain? - Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story: - 18th century
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 50%
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot? - life in that culture
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - servant
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - business executive
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - revenge
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 1
Amount of dialog - significantly more descript than dialog

Most similar books to Bone House
The Price of Murder by Bruce Alexander
Much Ado About Murder by Simon Hawke
An Experiment In Treason by Bruce Alexander
A Distinction of Blood by Hannah March
The Grenadillo Box by Janet Gleeson

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Betsy Tobin Book Review