What do you think?
Rate this book
Cloud of Bone
From the bestselling author of Random Passage and Waiting for Time comes this masterful, engrossing story of the last surviving Beothuk, a World War II deserter and a recently widowed English woman at the end of the twentieth century.
During World War II, well into the Battle of the North Atlantic, Newfoundlander Kyle Holloway deserts from the Royal Navy. Now, hidden in a cave below St. Mary’s Church, the war-haunted young man remembers years of carefree friendship and petty crime in the narrow streets of St. John’s. Starving, disoriented and tormented by his own act of betrayal, Kyle hears a low, persistent murmuring, retelling a story of distant, far-reaching betrayals.
Over a century earlier, Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk girl, spends her childhood in a place she thinks of as the safe centre of the world. As she grows into young womanhood, listening to stories, sharing secrets with friends and falling in love, she slowly becomes aware that Dogmen are taking over her world. Each season, her people are forced farther inland, away from their own hunting grounds, back from the rich seal beaches. Now the only witness that the Beothuk once walked the earth, Shanawdithit is forced to endlessly repeat the story of her doomed people.
In 1998, Judith and Ian Muir are in Rwanda as part of the United Nations team investigating a genocide site. A shot rings out and Ian falls dead. Overwhelmed with grief, his widow returns to England and the abandoned cottage where she grew up. There, an unusual discovery takes Judith on a quest that will inextricably connect her life to the lives of Shanawdithit and Kyle Holloway. In Cloud of Bone, three stories come together to make both an intriguing mystery and a meditation on lost innocence, brutality and the power of memory.
During World War II, well into the Battle of the North Atlantic, Newfoundlander Kyle Holloway deserts from the Royal Navy. Now, hidden in a cave below St. Mary’s Church, the war-haunted young man remembers years of carefree friendship and petty crime in the narrow streets of St. John’s. Starving, disoriented and tormented by his own act of betrayal, Kyle hears a low, persistent murmuring, retelling a story of distant, far-reaching betrayals.
Over a century earlier, Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk girl, spends her childhood in a place she thinks of as the safe centre of the world. As she grows into young womanhood, listening to stories, sharing secrets with friends and falling in love, she slowly becomes aware that Dogmen are taking over her world. Each season, her people are forced farther inland, away from their own hunting grounds, back from the rich seal beaches. Now the only witness that the Beothuk once walked the earth, Shanawdithit is forced to endlessly repeat the story of her doomed people.
In 1998, Judith and Ian Muir are in Rwanda as part of the United Nations team investigating a genocide site. A shot rings out and Ian falls dead. Overwhelmed with grief, his widow returns to England and the abandoned cottage where she grew up. There, an unusual discovery takes Judith on a quest that will inextricably connect her life to the lives of Shanawdithit and Kyle Holloway. In Cloud of Bone, three stories come together to make both an intriguing mystery and a meditation on lost innocence, brutality and the power of memory.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published August 28, 2007
5 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
October 10, 2018
I moved to Newfoundland 5 years ago and as someone born and raised in Ontario I find it disarming how little attention is paid to the now extinct Beothuk people that formerly resided on this island. Other Canadian tourists have remarked to me about this too.
This book is a fictionalized account of the last Beothuk woman, Shanawdithit, (who died in 1829) - I have read a few non-fiction books about her and her people and this story reflects much of what I learned from those sources in terms of the little known hard facts.
I will walk around my new-found-land with a much deeper respect for the untold histories nestled within the barrens and the forests and the coves after reading this book and for that I am grateful that Ms. Morgan wrote this book.
This book is a fictionalized account of the last Beothuk woman, Shanawdithit, (who died in 1829) - I have read a few non-fiction books about her and her people and this story reflects much of what I learned from those sources in terms of the little known hard facts.
I will walk around my new-found-land with a much deeper respect for the untold histories nestled within the barrens and the forests and the coves after reading this book and for that I am grateful that Ms. Morgan wrote this book.
January 4, 2011
This book manages to connect three stories that take place at different times in history and concern different protagonists. It is a kind of magic that haunts the reader long after the book has been read and returned to the library.
June 27, 2009
Lovely stories, my favourite being the one about the Beothuk tribe from Newfoundland - absolutely lovely and heartbreaking.
March 27, 2014
I bought this book, in paperback, at the local airport for an outbound journey. As always, when I’m travelling, I tend to buy books that are very literary, and I end up reading magazines or lighter fare instead when I’m en route. When I finally read it, I didn't read in 10 or 20 minute bites; instead I settled in with it for 2 hour blocks of time.
I was attracted to this book because it is, in part, the story of the last surviving Beothuk, the aboriginal people of Newfoundland. When I was young I was always saddened to think of her, taken captive and living in a city, while the rest of her people had died or been killed off.
In the book, Shawnadithit’s story is bookended by the stories of two other characters from different eras. I thought the stories would alternate throughout the book. Instead, it is divided in thirds. I felt irritated each time a new character was introduced and we readers had not been told about the fate of the previous character, leaving us hanging until the end of the book. I have to admit the tales came together in a deeper way than I expected, and it was satisfying. But I did have to work through my impatience to get there.
It really made me think: how do you write about an historic group of people and give them thoughts and conversations? How much research did the author do and to what degree did she admire their pure, pre-contact lifestyle?
This was an intensely sad story. The last time I read something like it was Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House (devastating!)
I was attracted to this book because it is, in part, the story of the last surviving Beothuk, the aboriginal people of Newfoundland. When I was young I was always saddened to think of her, taken captive and living in a city, while the rest of her people had died or been killed off.
In the book, Shawnadithit’s story is bookended by the stories of two other characters from different eras. I thought the stories would alternate throughout the book. Instead, it is divided in thirds. I felt irritated each time a new character was introduced and we readers had not been told about the fate of the previous character, leaving us hanging until the end of the book. I have to admit the tales came together in a deeper way than I expected, and it was satisfying. But I did have to work through my impatience to get there.
It really made me think: how do you write about an historic group of people and give them thoughts and conversations? How much research did the author do and to what degree did she admire their pure, pre-contact lifestyle?
This was an intensely sad story. The last time I read something like it was Louise Erdrich’s The Birchbark House (devastating!)
February 24, 2012
I didn't know what to expect from this book. It surpassed anything I could have thought. A wonderful glimpse into the history of Nfld. I loved the story of the Beothuk people. I will definitely have this book on my list of favorites.
July 19, 2018
This novel consists of three different stories, set in different times, but which all come together at the end. The book’s centrepiece and lynchpin is the tragic story of the extinction of the Beothuk, seen through the eyes of Shanawdithit, probably the last Beothuk woman. Morgan is a brilliant writer and this book illuminates different aspects of Newfoundland history than her earlier novels: Random Passage and Waiting for Time.
September 1, 2018
This is like three linked stories - one during WWII-time, one during the time of Shanawdithit and the Beothuck people, and one in the 1990s. I found the first two sections more engaging, yet the third raised some of the most interesting questions.
The author, Bernice Morgan, came to our local library book club to talk about this book and it was a great session! She talked about her uncle whose WWII service inspired part of the book and some of her experiences researching the Beothucks, which included a trip to England to visit the area where Shanawdithit's skull was shipped from Newfoundland to an institute that was bombed during the Blitz. And the conversation also got onto her other novels Random Passage and Waiting for Time, her love for Random Island and her writing process. Lucky us!
The author, Bernice Morgan, came to our local library book club to talk about this book and it was a great session! She talked about her uncle whose WWII service inspired part of the book and some of her experiences researching the Beothucks, which included a trip to England to visit the area where Shanawdithit's skull was shipped from Newfoundland to an institute that was bombed during the Blitz. And the conversation also got onto her other novels Random Passage and Waiting for Time, her love for Random Island and her writing process. Lucky us!
April 10, 2009
From dust jacket:
"During World War II, well into the Battle of the North Atlantic, Newfoundlander Kyle Holloway deserts from the Royal Navy. Now, hidden in a cave below St. Mary's Church, the war-haunted young man remembers years of carefree friendship and petty crime in the narrow streets of St. John's, disoriented and tormented by his own act of betrayal, Kyle hears a low, persistent murmuring, retelling a story of distant, far-reaching betrayals.
Over a century earlier, Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk girl, spends her childhood in a place she thinks of as the safe centre of the world. As she grows into womanhood, listening to stories, sharing secrets with friends and falling in love, she slowly becomes aware that Dogmen are taking over her world. Each season, her people are forced further inland, away from their own hunting grounds, back from the rich seal beaches. Now the only witness that the Beothuk once walked the earth, Shanawdithit is forced to endlessly repeat the story of her doomed people.
In 1998, Judith and Ian Muir are in Rwanda as part of the United Nations team investigating a genocide site. A shot rings out and Ian falls dead. Overwhelmed with grief, his widow returns to England and the abandoned cottage where she grew up. There, an unusual discovery takes Judith on a quest that will inextricably connect her life to the lives of Shanawdithit and Kyle Holloway.
In 'Cloud of Bone,' three stories come together to make both an intriguing mystery and a meditation on lost innocence, brutality and the power of memory."
"During World War II, well into the Battle of the North Atlantic, Newfoundlander Kyle Holloway deserts from the Royal Navy. Now, hidden in a cave below St. Mary's Church, the war-haunted young man remembers years of carefree friendship and petty crime in the narrow streets of St. John's, disoriented and tormented by his own act of betrayal, Kyle hears a low, persistent murmuring, retelling a story of distant, far-reaching betrayals.
Over a century earlier, Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk girl, spends her childhood in a place she thinks of as the safe centre of the world. As she grows into womanhood, listening to stories, sharing secrets with friends and falling in love, she slowly becomes aware that Dogmen are taking over her world. Each season, her people are forced further inland, away from their own hunting grounds, back from the rich seal beaches. Now the only witness that the Beothuk once walked the earth, Shanawdithit is forced to endlessly repeat the story of her doomed people.
In 1998, Judith and Ian Muir are in Rwanda as part of the United Nations team investigating a genocide site. A shot rings out and Ian falls dead. Overwhelmed with grief, his widow returns to England and the abandoned cottage where she grew up. There, an unusual discovery takes Judith on a quest that will inextricably connect her life to the lives of Shanawdithit and Kyle Holloway.
In 'Cloud of Bone,' three stories come together to make both an intriguing mystery and a meditation on lost innocence, brutality and the power of memory."
July 16, 2012
Cloud of Bone is written in three parts, each focusing on a different character: Kyle Holloway, a WWII deserter; Shanawdithit, a Beothuk woman; and Judith, an English anthropologist. The stories seem mostly disconnected until almost the very end of the novel, when they all come together. Shanawdithit's narrative, the second one, is by far the longest, and can be a little drawn out at time. It's also the section that seems the most forced, as if Morgan had a hard time getting into Shanawdithit's head, and just wanted to cram in every possible detail she knew about the Beothuks. The final part, Judith's narrative, was by far my favourite, although it was a little slow towards the beginning. The novel brings up some interesting questions about memory and history - how the stories we tell are passed down, how we learn about the past, and the ethics of telling the story of those you can no longer tell it themselves. I'm not entirely sure the book led me to any certain answers to these questions, but it did get me thinking. I certainly liked this a great deal more than Morgan's other two books, Random Passage and Waiting for Time.
February 18, 2012
I'm a big fan of Newfoundland historical fiction. The story of the Beothuk holds a lot of opportunity for fiction since no one is left to tell the real truth. This book is poignant and the characters are vivid.
July 9, 2013
This is my first read of Bernice Morgan's books. I absolutely loved the harrowing and painful story of the last of the Beothuk Indians and how Shawnadithit links a WW2 deserter and an English anthropologist. The Beothuk section really is the throbbing heart of this story.
December 22, 2018
The book follows the story of three people from different times and backgrounds. It briefly introduces Kyle Holloway, young man from Newfoundland who joins the navy/coast guard equivalent in WW II and ends up deserting, hiding in a church basement, and waiting/wanting to die. As he is starving to death he hears a voice talking to him and the voice gives him purpose.
The main story is about Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk Indian who lived in the late 18th and early 19th century in the area that is now Newfoundland. She tells of her life with her extended family and then describes what happens when the “Dogmen” (Europeans) take over the land. She dies in 1829, the last Beothuk. I found her story interesting and sad.
The final story is of Judith Muir, an archaeologist, whom we meet when she is in midlife just as her husband suddenly dies. Judith is bereft and retires to a small cottage where she lived with her aunt after her mother died in the London blitz. She finds many of her childhood belongings in the attic, including an old scull that she remembers finding in the London bomb rubble. She is able to identify the scull as belonging to Shanawdithit and owned by a royal archaeology museum that was bombed during the war.
The book finally spoke to me. Judith is an archaeologist and suddenly she questions her profession. Should sculls, skeletons, property be taken and kept in a museum or in files for study? The questions make the whole book worthwhile.
The book would have been a 3 but the discussion of how we treat other cultures, skeletons, and property makes it a 4.
The main story is about Shanawdithit, a young Beothuk Indian who lived in the late 18th and early 19th century in the area that is now Newfoundland. She tells of her life with her extended family and then describes what happens when the “Dogmen” (Europeans) take over the land. She dies in 1829, the last Beothuk. I found her story interesting and sad.
The final story is of Judith Muir, an archaeologist, whom we meet when she is in midlife just as her husband suddenly dies. Judith is bereft and retires to a small cottage where she lived with her aunt after her mother died in the London blitz. She finds many of her childhood belongings in the attic, including an old scull that she remembers finding in the London bomb rubble. She is able to identify the scull as belonging to Shanawdithit and owned by a royal archaeology museum that was bombed during the war.
The book finally spoke to me. Judith is an archaeologist and suddenly she questions her profession. Should sculls, skeletons, property be taken and kept in a museum or in files for study? The questions make the whole book worthwhile.
The book would have been a 3 but the discussion of how we treat other cultures, skeletons, and property makes it a 4.
July 22, 2019
Morgan presents many thoughtful ideas regarding the responsibility of our culture through the character of Judith. Should skulls of various cultures be tagged and stored on a shelf in a museum or should they be buried with the remains? She ponders her life's work and how the heritage and early culture of Newfoundland are documented - but there is little documentation of the Beothuks. Morgan references the importance of land/culture and acknowledges it throughout this novel through Kyle, Shawnadithit, and Judith. This novel was published in 2007 - many of the ideas reflect Truth and Reconciliation today in Canada and how our dark history must be recognized.
January 9, 2018
"In Cloud of Bone, three stories come together to make both an intriguing mystery and a meditation on lost innocence, brutality and the power of memory." I would rate the three stories individually 3, 5, 3 (in the order they are told in the book.) The middle tale, about the Beothuk tribe, was gripping, enlightening and desperately sad. Shanawdithit will stay with me. As for a recommendation -
yes, but flip straight to the second story!
yes, but flip straight to the second story!
May 22, 2020
This my third book about Newfoundland in the past few weeks (yes, I've fallen down a rabbit hole of my own province's history lately) This is my favorite of Morgan's books so far. The book is divided up into 3 separate stories. Each with unique characters and circumstances, all beautifully descriptive. The quote I kept: "Moss, given time, will cover everything".
Now I want to keep digging!
Now I want to keep digging!
January 13, 2024
This is an excellent book. I wondered how the three stories would tie together. The author does this beautifully in the third story. The Beothuk section outlines the story of Shanawdithit, who is believed to have been the last surviving Beothuk. It's a story of a people purposefully eradicated. I found it to be very compelling reading the first person narrative. This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to learn more about Indigenous history in Canada.
July 31, 2022
“…places her hand on the notebooks and knows she will find something here. Such moments are the drug that has fuelled her career… The finding is wonderful, the published papers, the accolades are satisfying - but this moment before the find, when success is sure but mystery remains, is pure exhilaration.” Page 397
June 28, 2018
Brilliantly written book containing three converging stories with the last days of the Beothuk indigenous peoples of Newfoundland at its centre. The history of the demise of the Beothuk is tragic and this book does an excellent job of telling and preserving the story of their existence.
January 23, 2021
Absolutely fabulous and certainly a book that is difficult to put down, I just wanted to keep reading and reading. It is wonderfully written and cleverly binds the central character through the 3 narratives.
February 24, 2021
Not my type of read but a great perspective or imagined account of how the indigenous population of Nfld. may have reacted to settlers. A what would it feel like to be the last tasmanian tiger kind of exploration.
February 14, 2022
Three interesting but extremely dark stories, which don't really come together.
December 10, 2022
I couldn’t finish this one. It wasn’t for me.
January 30, 2024
Deeply moving. Fascinating concept.
February 5, 2025
Three characters' stories intertwine over time and geography in this meditation on colonialization, memory, and purpose. Well-wrought, but bleak.
September 10, 2013
The book is arranged in three parts, a mystery about memory and random connections. Part 2 was the best...follows the demise of the Beothuk Indians with the influx of European settlers...absolutely haunting. The Canadian sailor struggling with past misdeeds and the English anthropologist dealing with the death of her husband (parts 1 and 3 respectively) are solid but don't have the emotional impact of the thread connecting them (part 2). Still enjoyed it. No one can capture loneliness and isolation like this author.
September 25, 2014
I absolutely loved this book. We have such fantastic writers in Newfoundland and my only regret is that I didn't discover this book sooner.
The ending was a great summation/tie-in of the whole book and left me with a little smile on the very last page.
Fabulous read!
The ending was a great summation/tie-in of the whole book and left me with a little smile on the very last page.
Fabulous read!
June 5, 2011
The last third of the book was really interesting.
May 17, 2012
I enjoyed the history of Newfoundland in this novel and the window into the lives of the Beothuk (which takes up the largest part of the book).
January 15, 2012
Very interesting glimpse into Canadian history - loved the Beothuk part of the novel.
June 4, 2012
This was the second WWI novel I read in a row -- weird! It's a bit slowly paced for me, but the story was fantastic. I especially love how she wove together such disparate tales.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews