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Bone River
Selected by Amazon's editors as a Best Book of the Month in Literature & Fiction
In the mid-19th century, Leonie Monroe Russell works alongside her husband, Junius, an oysterman in Shoalwater Bay in the Pacific Northwest. At night she continues her father’s lifelong obsession—collecting artifacts and studying the native culture that once thrived in the Washington Territory.
On her thirty-seventh birthday, Leonie discovers a mummy protruding from the riverbank bordering her property—a mummy that by all evidence shouldn’t exist. As Leonie searches for answers to the mummy’s origins, she begins to feel a mystical connection to it that defies all logic. Leonie’s sense that otherworldly forces are at work only grows when news of the incredible discovery brings Junius’s long lost son, Daniel, to her doorstep. Upon his unexpected arrival, a native elder insists that Leonie wear a special shell bracelet for protection. But protection from whom? The mummy, or, perhaps, Daniel?
Leonie has always been a good daughter and good wife, but, for the first time, these roles do not seem to be enough. Finding the mummy has changed everything, and now Leonie must decide if she has the courage to put aside the expectations of others to be the woman she was meant to be.
From award-winning author Megan Chance, Bone River is a haunting, lyrical tale of passion and identity.
In the mid-19th century, Leonie Monroe Russell works alongside her husband, Junius, an oysterman in Shoalwater Bay in the Pacific Northwest. At night she continues her father’s lifelong obsession—collecting artifacts and studying the native culture that once thrived in the Washington Territory.
On her thirty-seventh birthday, Leonie discovers a mummy protruding from the riverbank bordering her property—a mummy that by all evidence shouldn’t exist. As Leonie searches for answers to the mummy’s origins, she begins to feel a mystical connection to it that defies all logic. Leonie’s sense that otherworldly forces are at work only grows when news of the incredible discovery brings Junius’s long lost son, Daniel, to her doorstep. Upon his unexpected arrival, a native elder insists that Leonie wear a special shell bracelet for protection. But protection from whom? The mummy, or, perhaps, Daniel?
Leonie has always been a good daughter and good wife, but, for the first time, these roles do not seem to be enough. Finding the mummy has changed everything, and now Leonie must decide if she has the courage to put aside the expectations of others to be the woman she was meant to be.
From award-winning author Megan Chance, Bone River is a haunting, lyrical tale of passion and identity.
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First published December 4, 2012
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About the author
Megan Chance
32 books702 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Megan Chance is the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of several novels. Booklist calls her writing “Provocative and haunting.” Her books have been chosen by Amazon's Book of the Month, Borders Original Voices and IndieNext. A former television news photographer with a BA from Western Washington University, Megan Chance lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Visit her at www.meganchance.com
Megan Chance is the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of several novels. Booklist calls her writing “Provocative and haunting.” Her books have been chosen by Amazon's Book of the Month, Borders Original Voices and IndieNext. A former television news photographer with a BA from Western Washington University, Megan Chance lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband. Visit her at www.meganchance.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 367 reviews
January 25, 2013
I loved the setting and time frame, Washington, Mid 1800's and the tidbits about the Indians who had lived in the area. I think this is a book that could not quite figure out what it wanted to be. It was part historical, part mystery and part romance, too much romance for my liking. The writing was not good in places and it had somewhat of a pacing problem as well. Although there were historical facts that I enjoyed learning, as a whole this was just okay.
February 2, 2013
Where I got the book: review copy from publisher. This review first appeared on the Historical Novel Society's website and in the Historical Novel Review, issue 63.
This beautifully written, lyrical literary novel engages with the themes of the despoliation of the Pacific Northwest’s native culture and 19th-century concerns about race, degeneration and miscegenation.
It is 1875 in Washington Territory. Leonie, raised as an ethnologist by her father and married, by his dying wish, at seventeen to the much older Junius, is torn between the scientific values embraced by her husband and father and her instinctual connection with the spiritual values of the native peoples they study. Her discovery of a mummified woman in a riverbank and the arrival of Junius’s grown son, Daniel, disrupt a life dedicated to science and bereft of the children for which she longs.
The finely drawn depiction of the Pacific Northwest as a place where rank fertility combines with constant rain, cold, and danger sets the scene beautifully for the struggle between passion and rationality, science and the sacred. The use of Chinook words, stories and imagery bolsters the sense of isolation and otherworldliness as a counterpoint to the scientific and mercantile values of the settlers, but while the spirit world always impinges on the story, Bone River stays firmly grounded in the reality of Leonie’s life.
Chance has a great many interesting things to say about the connection between science, the sacred, and the building of the American marketplace in the space occupied by much older societies. She keeps the reader just ahead of Leonie’s perception of the truth, leading up to a page-turning finish. Recommended.
This beautifully written, lyrical literary novel engages with the themes of the despoliation of the Pacific Northwest’s native culture and 19th-century concerns about race, degeneration and miscegenation.
It is 1875 in Washington Territory. Leonie, raised as an ethnologist by her father and married, by his dying wish, at seventeen to the much older Junius, is torn between the scientific values embraced by her husband and father and her instinctual connection with the spiritual values of the native peoples they study. Her discovery of a mummified woman in a riverbank and the arrival of Junius’s grown son, Daniel, disrupt a life dedicated to science and bereft of the children for which she longs.
The finely drawn depiction of the Pacific Northwest as a place where rank fertility combines with constant rain, cold, and danger sets the scene beautifully for the struggle between passion and rationality, science and the sacred. The use of Chinook words, stories and imagery bolsters the sense of isolation and otherworldliness as a counterpoint to the scientific and mercantile values of the settlers, but while the spirit world always impinges on the story, Bone River stays firmly grounded in the reality of Leonie’s life.
Chance has a great many interesting things to say about the connection between science, the sacred, and the building of the American marketplace in the space occupied by much older societies. She keeps the reader just ahead of Leonie’s perception of the truth, leading up to a page-turning finish. Recommended.
January 4, 2013
A woman in 19th century Washington Territory finding bones, a mummy, along side a river in her remote part of the world. Sound like this could be exciting! Unfortunately, for me, this novel didn't work as a mystery or as a romance. The writing was mediocre, and some parts were downright awful. In the prologue, before I got to the main part of the story, I read “I looked into his chiseled face, into his deep-set eyes, and he pulled me into his arms, holding me tight against his chest.” Blaugh, that doesn't bode well, sounds too much like a mid-20th century paperback romance.
The story was pretty boring, the characters weren't engaging or even likeable, and seemed flat. The talk of racial superiority/inferiority, while part of the story, got old fast. I was not intrigued by the mummy and didn't much care what happened to any of the characters. Too much was too predictable. I often like first-person narrative, but it didn't work this time. Add to that, writing that made me more aware of the author's attempts at creativity than of the flow of the story, and this one was a flop for me, especially at 400+ pages.
I was given a copy of the book for review.
The story was pretty boring, the characters weren't engaging or even likeable, and seemed flat. The talk of racial superiority/inferiority, while part of the story, got old fast. I was not intrigued by the mummy and didn't much care what happened to any of the characters. Too much was too predictable. I often like first-person narrative, but it didn't work this time. Add to that, writing that made me more aware of the author's attempts at creativity than of the flow of the story, and this one was a flop for me, especially at 400+ pages.
I was given a copy of the book for review.
January 28, 2013
Bone River gets a very strong 4+ rating from me. When an author can combine murder, mystery, passion, history, and a riveting plot with an ability to evoke rich and vivid descriptions, they've got a winning combination. Bone River delivers on all fronts. The emotional and sexual tensions are beautifully drawn too.
Leonie Russell and her husband Junius operate an oystering business in the Washington Territory in the mid-19th century. On the side, Leonie pursues her father's career and obsession: ethnology--studying the native culture that once flourished in the area through the collection and study of bones.
When she discovers a mummy in layers of mud on the riverbank near her home, exposed from erosion by the river currents, she believes she might have discovered an ancient link in the evolution of the natives she studies. She also begins to feel a strange and mystical connection to the woman's mummified body, with voices speaking to her in dreams. Combined with message from a native elder, Leonie feels she's being awakened to a calling that goes beyond the expectations of others, especially her husband, a much older man whom she married when was 17, mostly to comply with her father's dying wish.
The appearance of Junius's son Daniel, whose existence was a shock to Leonie, complicates things as Leonie and Junius question the timing and motives of his arrival and Daniel exhibits a sensitivity to Leonie's spiritual side that Junius not only ignored but derided.
The rapidly moving plot plays out against the backdrop of a beautiful natural setting near the confluence of two rivers, and part of the charm of the book, for me, includes the marvelous descriptions:
There were rich layers to this book. Leonie discovers her fathers scientific journals, and through excerpts, the reader gets a fascinating glimpse into the scientific methods of the time and the unfortunate disregard for native sensibilities in stealing bones from their sacred burial grounds. It also touches on phrenology, the belief that one can ascertain personality traits by studying the bumps and contours of the skull.
The mystery of the mummy and the final revelation of who she was is another ingenious and tantalizing twist to this very entertaining read.
Leonie Russell and her husband Junius operate an oystering business in the Washington Territory in the mid-19th century. On the side, Leonie pursues her father's career and obsession: ethnology--studying the native culture that once flourished in the area through the collection and study of bones.
When she discovers a mummy in layers of mud on the riverbank near her home, exposed from erosion by the river currents, she believes she might have discovered an ancient link in the evolution of the natives she studies. She also begins to feel a strange and mystical connection to the woman's mummified body, with voices speaking to her in dreams. Combined with message from a native elder, Leonie feels she's being awakened to a calling that goes beyond the expectations of others, especially her husband, a much older man whom she married when was 17, mostly to comply with her father's dying wish.
The appearance of Junius's son Daniel, whose existence was a shock to Leonie, complicates things as Leonie and Junius question the timing and motives of his arrival and Daniel exhibits a sensitivity to Leonie's spiritual side that Junius not only ignored but derided.
The rapidly moving plot plays out against the backdrop of a beautiful natural setting near the confluence of two rivers, and part of the charm of the book, for me, includes the marvelous descriptions:
"I listened to the creak of the lines and the timbers of the boat, the slap of the water, the caw of the gulls, but for the most part it felt as if we were alone, only the three of us in a world cocooned by fog, with nothing beyond, nothing to know or see or hear."
"...the dreams I'd had tangled like briars in my head, dark and grasping..."
There were rich layers to this book. Leonie discovers her fathers scientific journals, and through excerpts, the reader gets a fascinating glimpse into the scientific methods of the time and the unfortunate disregard for native sensibilities in stealing bones from their sacred burial grounds. It also touches on phrenology, the belief that one can ascertain personality traits by studying the bumps and contours of the skull.
The mystery of the mummy and the final revelation of who she was is another ingenious and tantalizing twist to this very entertaining read.
April 22, 2018
I supposed it's a morbid tale, but it's the kind of story that stays with you. And every now and then something I come across would remind me of this story and it pops up again and I would appreciate the sentiments offered, revealed by Megan for her characters in this story. Her characters in this story are all so quite, with so few words, but with so much depth...
July 17, 2014
Atmospheric Novel Captures Breaking Free
This is my second Megan Chance novel - "Inamorata" being my first immersive experience in Chance's incandescent prose. To say that my expectations were high was an understatement. While this book is far and away different than the other, that beautiful Chance prose captures the atmosphere and surroundings, as well as the people, their feelings, thoughts, more`s and cultural beliefs. I was not disappointed.
"Bone River" is about deathbed promises and their impact on the living. It's about rationality versus spirituality, science versus religion, thinking versus feeling, control versus passion. It's about a 17 year old girl with a dying father. He is an ethnologist on the Northwest coast of California studying the native Indian tribesmen. In his dying breath, he makes her promise to marry his 40 year old assistant Junius. She says NO! Then, after huge guilt, gives in to him. We find that Junius has previously agreed to the match, but he will become a bigamist, as he is already married, since he ran out on his first wife many years ago.
And so the scene is set for an emotionally rousing story surrounding Leonie, our 17 year old bride, Junius, her husband, Lord Tom, an Indian friend of the family that has looked out for Leonie since she was young, and David, Junius' son from his first marriage. The story takes place twenty years after the wedding, and kicks off with Leonie finding a mummy buried in a basket in the slope by the river in front of her home. This female mummy is the catalyst for all the events that occur.
Chance's worldbuilding is so superior that she makes the settings in each of her novels into a character. You can touch, taste, feel, hear and see every scene in her novels. This takes them far beyond cinematic.
Every character in the novel was conflicted. None of them, with the exception of Lord Tom, were doing things that they either wanted or needed to do. All of them were stifled by deathbed promises. Humans, being adaptable, tend to make the best of the situation at hand, unless you shake them up - like a hornets nest.
Once the mummy is found, the shaking starts. Shake! Shake! Shake! Then unpredictable and nasty things start to happen. Spirits speak, old murders are uncovered, relatives drop by, people almost drown, others are shot at, graves are robbed, dreams invaded, adultery is committed, boats are overturned, cows are milked, secrets are kept and then revealed, things are destroyed in a flood and life is created.
Leonie's is a strong character, even if she doesn't know it. She is a multi-faceted heroine whose challenge is one that we all face: be true to yourself. She has a big heart, a belief in the beauty of people, life and nature, as well as an ability to pick up on spirit vibrations from objects or from the spirits themselves. She uses the information from the spirits to help with her work on the Indian legends.
Bottom Line: In amongst the swirling wind, dashing rain and rushing water, you will find the story of four people and one mummy who enter the whirlwind with their own agendas, and come out the other side; their plans obliterated. They will never be the same people ever again.
Highly Recommended!
This is my second Megan Chance novel - "Inamorata" being my first immersive experience in Chance's incandescent prose. To say that my expectations were high was an understatement. While this book is far and away different than the other, that beautiful Chance prose captures the atmosphere and surroundings, as well as the people, their feelings, thoughts, more`s and cultural beliefs. I was not disappointed.
"Bone River" is about deathbed promises and their impact on the living. It's about rationality versus spirituality, science versus religion, thinking versus feeling, control versus passion. It's about a 17 year old girl with a dying father. He is an ethnologist on the Northwest coast of California studying the native Indian tribesmen. In his dying breath, he makes her promise to marry his 40 year old assistant Junius. She says NO! Then, after huge guilt, gives in to him. We find that Junius has previously agreed to the match, but he will become a bigamist, as he is already married, since he ran out on his first wife many years ago.
And so the scene is set for an emotionally rousing story surrounding Leonie, our 17 year old bride, Junius, her husband, Lord Tom, an Indian friend of the family that has looked out for Leonie since she was young, and David, Junius' son from his first marriage. The story takes place twenty years after the wedding, and kicks off with Leonie finding a mummy buried in a basket in the slope by the river in front of her home. This female mummy is the catalyst for all the events that occur.
Chance's worldbuilding is so superior that she makes the settings in each of her novels into a character. You can touch, taste, feel, hear and see every scene in her novels. This takes them far beyond cinematic.
Every character in the novel was conflicted. None of them, with the exception of Lord Tom, were doing things that they either wanted or needed to do. All of them were stifled by deathbed promises. Humans, being adaptable, tend to make the best of the situation at hand, unless you shake them up - like a hornets nest.
Once the mummy is found, the shaking starts. Shake! Shake! Shake! Then unpredictable and nasty things start to happen. Spirits speak, old murders are uncovered, relatives drop by, people almost drown, others are shot at, graves are robbed, dreams invaded, adultery is committed, boats are overturned, cows are milked, secrets are kept and then revealed, things are destroyed in a flood and life is created.
Leonie's is a strong character, even if she doesn't know it. She is a multi-faceted heroine whose challenge is one that we all face: be true to yourself. She has a big heart, a belief in the beauty of people, life and nature, as well as an ability to pick up on spirit vibrations from objects or from the spirits themselves. She uses the information from the spirits to help with her work on the Indian legends.
Bottom Line: In amongst the swirling wind, dashing rain and rushing water, you will find the story of four people and one mummy who enter the whirlwind with their own agendas, and come out the other side; their plans obliterated. They will never be the same people ever again.
Highly Recommended!
March 22, 2013
Although this book was very slow to gain my interest, it became a read that I simply couldn't put down. Not only does it maintain the reader's interest with a thrilling mystery with a historical fiction setting, it highlights many issues that include feminism, free will, ethics and culture. Personally, I find a good book blends multiple genres and peaks the interest of the reader - and not just interest in the story and how it will end, but rather intrigue and contemplation at topics presented. And this book does it. I was left feeling the story - and thinking to myself what defines ME... is it my career? is it my hobbies? is it my heritage? As Leonie herself discovers, we define ourselves when we decide to follow our hearts and not live by strict societal expectations based on gender or cultural background. She also demonstrates that no matter how hard we - or another for that matter - tries to change ourselves, we will come out most fulfilled and happy in the end by dancing to the beat of our own drum.
November 11, 2012
This novel takes place around 1850 in the Pacific Northwest. Very carefully the reader learns about the characters, a father and daughter who collect artifacts and study the native Indian culture. We also meet the daughter's husband, Junius. The story picks up speed when a mummy is found and Leonie, the daughter, is determined to find out who she was. Dreams account for the forces that makes Leonie suspicious of how and why the mummy was buried and why her father's necklace was entangled in the corpse. When Daniel, an unknown son of Junius arrives, the story takes on a new twist. I floated along in this story like I was a character observing what and where the truth was headed. I couldn't put the book down. The author's research on the Indians of this time and the White culture who saw them as savages provides a strong background to a very original story. This was an ARC received from Book Browse. It will be published in December.
March 28, 2013
I am not sure how I came to read Bone River, but I believe it was a Kindle Daily Deal. These Daily Deals can be hit or miss, but I found this one very enjoyable.
It is the story of Leonie Russel. Leoni livesd in the Pacific Northwest with her father collecting Native American artifacts. When her father died, she marries Junius. Fast forward twenty years when Leonie discovers a lovely Native American mummy in a basket along the river. She is strangely drawn to this mummy. Around that same time, Daniel, Junius's son from his first marriage, shows up to write a story on the mummy. Leoni didn't even know that Daniel existed. When Bibi, a native elder, mysteriously says that the mummy brought him to her, Leonie becomes both confused and intrigued.
This is part love story, part adventure story. The writing is smooth and the characters are dimensional and believable. While not exactly a page turner, I did find myself taking lots of reading breaks through the day to hurry back to this book.
It is the story of Leonie Russel. Leoni livesd in the Pacific Northwest with her father collecting Native American artifacts. When her father died, she marries Junius. Fast forward twenty years when Leonie discovers a lovely Native American mummy in a basket along the river. She is strangely drawn to this mummy. Around that same time, Daniel, Junius's son from his first marriage, shows up to write a story on the mummy. Leoni didn't even know that Daniel existed. When Bibi, a native elder, mysteriously says that the mummy brought him to her, Leonie becomes both confused and intrigued.
This is part love story, part adventure story. The writing is smooth and the characters are dimensional and believable. While not exactly a page turner, I did find myself taking lots of reading breaks through the day to hurry back to this book.
March 24, 2022
A novel about a woman named Leonie living near a Native American culture on a river with her husband, Junius ("June"). 20 years ago her dying father made her promise to marry June because he would "keep her safe" - Leonie doesn't learn what this means for 20 years, and the secret is nothing she could have ever imagined.
Raised as an ethnologist, she finds herself fighting gut feelings, emotions, and messages conveyed to her in dreams after she discovers a mummy buried along a creek. The mummy speaks to her soul and controls her feelings and actions the entire time she has it in her possession. As a scientist, she doesn't understand this but has trouble fighting it.
Meanwhile, the plot ticks along, along with a number of surprise twists, when a journalist shows up to report on the mummy. He has ties to June and Leonie which become clear.
I thought the plot was great and very interesting and different, although at times I found the book dragged some in the depictions of the dreams and Leonie's contact with the mummy.
Raised as an ethnologist, she finds herself fighting gut feelings, emotions, and messages conveyed to her in dreams after she discovers a mummy buried along a creek. The mummy speaks to her soul and controls her feelings and actions the entire time she has it in her possession. As a scientist, she doesn't understand this but has trouble fighting it.
Meanwhile, the plot ticks along, along with a number of surprise twists, when a journalist shows up to report on the mummy. He has ties to June and Leonie which become clear.
I thought the plot was great and very interesting and different, although at times I found the book dragged some in the depictions of the dreams and Leonie's contact with the mummy.
October 8, 2014
A quick read but pretty terrible and as subtle as an anvil falling on your head. I think this wound up on my list because it's historical fiction about Washington State. Certainly not because I like the author--I found The Spiritualist to be pretty dumb too. If you like plot points like weighty and meaningful dreams, heavy-handed depictions of a woman's stifled personhood (her husband doesn't like her to drink or dance or enjoy sex), and racist descriptions of "what people used to think about American Indians" that allows us modern folk to pat ourselves on our backs now that we're more enlightened...this is the book for you! Add to the mix a constant refrain of anti-science ("scientists" in this book are universally bad, racist, disrespectful of the dead) and I was done.
September 27, 2016
I found Meghan Chance’s Bone River riveting. The writing is emotive and immediate. The author’s powers of description captured frontier life in the Northwest, and made the characters that populate her story (settlers and Native Americans) very real to me. Toward the middle, I found myself skimming as the protagonist, Leonie, struggled and struggled with the decisions she was trying to make. I felt the book would have been improved by shortening and tightening this part of the story. This is a compelling book with a sad and powerful message, and a gripping (if overlong) read.
March 8, 2013
I admit I'm somewhat torn on what to feel about Bone River. It was very well writtern and plotted but took so long to get to the crux of the tale (plus I figured out what the experiment was well before they revealed it and was just left waiting for the protaganist to get to it) that I found reading the book somewhat of a chore.
Once, though, they get there the book picks up speed and drives itself toward a complete and satisfying conclusion.
Once, though, they get there the book picks up speed and drives itself toward a complete and satisfying conclusion.
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July 12, 2019I'm a huge fan of Megan Chance and this book did not disappoint. It's a story of relationships: between father and daughter, between arranged marriage husband and wife, between lovers wild for each other, between whites and Indians in 1880s Washington state. Her incredible writing, the evocation of mood, the descriptions of the wildness of the wilderness, the depth of emotion in her characters, the chill of realizing the hostility between some whites and the Native Americans of the area even long after the Indian wars are totally engrossing. It's a book to read in a day, you will be totally swept up in the story and the characters.
April 8, 2021
This is the second book I read by this author. The first was Splendid Ruin. I enjoyed both books. They both spend the first part of the book building characters and storyline and setting up something of a mystery. Then the middle and especially the end blow your mind if you haven't guessed what's really happening. I won't reveal the end, but the end of Bone River was shocking and moving. I would read more from this author, but need a break from the emotional intensity that was in the last half of this book.
September 21, 2018
It has been a very long time since I have read a book that shocked me!! There are twists and turns and an ending I didn’t see coming!!
November 2, 2025
3.5
This was an interesting storyline, but something was missing to me. I thought the mummy factor was intriguing but felt like the plot and characters could’ve developed more than they did.
This was an interesting storyline, but something was missing to me. I thought the mummy factor was intriguing but felt like the plot and characters could’ve developed more than they did.
February 20, 2013
This is a fabulously haunting book! The mystical and the psychological elements combine to make this an unforgettable story.
When at 17, Leonie's dying scientist father makes her promise to marry his 40 year old employee and friend, she reluctantly agrees. After all, living on the oyster banks in Washington Territory is all she has ever known. She marries Junius Russell, and for 20 years oystering and studying and selling Indian artifacts to museums has been all she has ever known. She has loved learning about the Native Americans and their folklore, for which she feels a deep affinity. All that begins to change when she sees a great blue heron, who almost seems to lead her to making the discovery of a female mummy buried in a basket in the river mud. She is haunted by dreams and visions of the woman's life, and it almost seems that she can hear the woman talking to her. When a stranger appears, she knows that he was sent to her somehow, but cannot fathom why, but Daniel's appearance will begin to cause more changes than she could ever imagine.
I really enjoyed the mystical elements of Leonie's dreams and how she kept trying to understand what they were telling her, and my heart broke for Leonie, trained to eschew any emotion first by her father, and then by her husband. As I said, a haunting but satisfying read that I would highly recommend!
When at 17, Leonie's dying scientist father makes her promise to marry his 40 year old employee and friend, she reluctantly agrees. After all, living on the oyster banks in Washington Territory is all she has ever known. She marries Junius Russell, and for 20 years oystering and studying and selling Indian artifacts to museums has been all she has ever known. She has loved learning about the Native Americans and their folklore, for which she feels a deep affinity. All that begins to change when she sees a great blue heron, who almost seems to lead her to making the discovery of a female mummy buried in a basket in the river mud. She is haunted by dreams and visions of the woman's life, and it almost seems that she can hear the woman talking to her. When a stranger appears, she knows that he was sent to her somehow, but cannot fathom why, but Daniel's appearance will begin to cause more changes than she could ever imagine.
I really enjoyed the mystical elements of Leonie's dreams and how she kept trying to understand what they were telling her, and my heart broke for Leonie, trained to eschew any emotion first by her father, and then by her husband. As I said, a haunting but satisfying read that I would highly recommend!
March 20, 2013
Bone River is a mystery, but it's less a "who-dunnit" than a "what was done." Leonie Russell was raised in the Pacific northwest by her ethnologist father, who trained her to take up his own line of work and study. She always tried to be a good daughter and a good scientist, and when her father died, she trustingly married the man he chose for her, his associate Junius Russell. Together they made a life collecting Native American artifacts and selling oysters, and Lea's only regret is that she never had children. But a pair of surprising events occur that shake her to her core, her discovery of a mummy buried along the riverbank, and the arrival several weeks later of Junius' twenty-six year old son, Daniel, about whose existence Lea had been ignorant.
Megan Chance is a writer who is adept at creating genuine, compelling characters and intriguing plot lines that involve, but are not superseded by, spiritual, often mystical elements. In Bone River, she captures that arrogant racism that characterized the nineteenth century, the Victorian belief in the inferiority of women, and the struggles of eking out a living in an area that was then untamed wilderness. Leonie's deeply existential crisis is often heartbreaking, and the reader is never certain how she will resolve it until the final pages. Finding the courage to be who you are is a daunting task for all of us.
Megan Chance is a writer who is adept at creating genuine, compelling characters and intriguing plot lines that involve, but are not superseded by, spiritual, often mystical elements. In Bone River, she captures that arrogant racism that characterized the nineteenth century, the Victorian belief in the inferiority of women, and the struggles of eking out a living in an area that was then untamed wilderness. Leonie's deeply existential crisis is often heartbreaking, and the reader is never certain how she will resolve it until the final pages. Finding the courage to be who you are is a daunting task for all of us.
January 29, 2013
"Bone River" takes you a mystery trip through the life of a passionate and yet pragmatic woman from the 1870s, who lives in the Pacific Northwest. After her father, an ethnologist and collector of Native American artifacts dies from tuberculosis in 1855, Leonie, age seventeen, marries his partner, Junius Russell, who is much older. At 40, Junius is already married, though he claims he will take care of that issue. Fast forward 20 years, and Leonie finds what at first looks like a mummy, in the bank of the Mouse River. This major archeological find upends her world, and changes her life forever. It's a fascinating look at a forward-thinking woman living in a man's world governed by religious ideology, and repression of the second sex.
January 12, 2013
I finished this a few days ago and have been pondering over what I want to say about it. The story drew me in, although I figured out the end long before I got there.
In addition to the human characters, the weather plays a large role in this story and becomes almost a character itself. The writing was such that I could feel the atmosphere and environment around me throughout. The author did a good job of portraying the restrictions on women of the time and the struggle that a woman went through as she tried to figure just who she was, who she wanted to be, and what she wanted to do.
All in all, it was a good read.
In addition to the human characters, the weather plays a large role in this story and becomes almost a character itself. The writing was such that I could feel the atmosphere and environment around me throughout. The author did a good job of portraying the restrictions on women of the time and the struggle that a woman went through as she tried to figure just who she was, who she wanted to be, and what she wanted to do.
All in all, it was a good read.
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February 19, 2013Loved the way Megan Chance writes!! This book is set in the late 1800s in Alaska. Lea, the main character has lived there for most of her life and studies the Indian ruins found there. Her husband, who is 20 years her senior, has kept many secrets from her regarding her past and also his past. The secrets unfold in the amazing backdrop of early Alaska and the difficult lives these people lead. I loved how her closest companion, an Indian who was friends with her father, often speaks in Chinook, and the author easily lets the reader understand it by the context, and response of the character who is having the conversation. A great read!!!
April 1, 2013
This lyrical and atmospheric novel (which is set on the coastline of Washington Territory in the 1870's) tells the story of a young woman who is not what she seems to be.
Leonie came to this place of rain, dripping primeval forests, ice-cold water and spiraling seabirds because of her love for one man, her father. When her father eventually passes away from tuberculosis he forces seventeen year old Leonie to promise that she will marry his much older partner. Leonie keeps her word and has twenty fairly satisfying years of marriage. Then, on a day that seems like it is just like any other, a sloughing riverbank reveals a secret that will change her life irrevocably.
Leonie came to this place of rain, dripping primeval forests, ice-cold water and spiraling seabirds because of her love for one man, her father. When her father eventually passes away from tuberculosis he forces seventeen year old Leonie to promise that she will marry his much older partner. Leonie keeps her word and has twenty fairly satisfying years of marriage. Then, on a day that seems like it is just like any other, a sloughing riverbank reveals a secret that will change her life irrevocably.
January 6, 2013
SPOILER ALERT -
This tells the story of a 37 yr. old woman who was raised mostly by her father who actually was doing an experiment involving her since her real mother was an Indian so she was a half-breed. This happened in 1855 when Indians were thought to be less than human white people.
Anyway she ended finding the mummy of her mother and learned from dreams an and old Indian woman that her father had actually killed her mother. Also her husband's son returned and fell in love with her. They ended up together.
This was quite a story.
This tells the story of a 37 yr. old woman who was raised mostly by her father who actually was doing an experiment involving her since her real mother was an Indian so she was a half-breed. This happened in 1855 when Indians were thought to be less than human white people.
Anyway she ended finding the mummy of her mother and learned from dreams an and old Indian woman that her father had actually killed her mother. Also her husband's son returned and fell in love with her. They ended up together.
This was quite a story.
June 28, 2013
To read it is to understand some of the decline in native history. How the white settlers in fact were grave robbers to add to their income. How the interaction of different tribes was restricted by distance and how old legends influenced the individual life. This book has been researched to a level seldom seen. Native resistance to white men abuse was non existent. The plot is of a different type, it combines mythos with crime, a racial experiment with love and hate, a killing without punishment. It is all interwoven in this story, great writing by a Wet Coast woman.
February 5, 2021
I was surprised to like this work as much as I did. It's set in the 19th century and revolves around a female protagonist who has been trained in the ethnology of the time by her father. This work was a solid exploration of how racism and misogyny fueled research and life during this time in history - the ethnology and research associated with it seemed really well-researched by the author. The work also had a mystery element to it that was quite engaging and kept me guessing until near the end, and the characters were well-written and relatable. Overall, solid historical fiction.
November 7, 2012
Megan Chance has once again returned to the theme of an intelligent, passionate and creative woman suppressed by the strictures of her society and the prejudices of the men in her life. I liked Leonie, and was anxious to see her come into her own. But it was obvious to me by page 50 exactly how it would all play out, and I was right in every particular. It's still an okay read, but I expected a denser, twistier plot from Chance.
July 23, 2014
I liked her writing and enjoyed the setting of the story in the historic pacific northwest. Since I was born and raised here I really liked hearing about some of the local natives. However, it was less history and more fiction. I would have liked to have read more about the daily lives of natives,and more folk stories. That said, it was a fun read however no serious history will be found here.
February 7, 2013
Ehh....
The story tended to drag in places and felt incestuous. The ending was predictable. I was disappointed.
The story tended to drag in places and felt incestuous. The ending was predictable. I was disappointed.
July 20, 2013
I have always been enchanted by Native Americans.... I love how the author wove this story from pieces of their culture.
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