Bone River
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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 37th 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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This is both an easy and a difficult review for me to write. Easy because Megan Chance's Bone River is one of the best novels I have recently read, and difficult because it brought so many emotions to surface.
It is a slow burn and I love slow burns. They give me the chance to absorb details, to become one with the place, the time and the characters. The descriptions in Bone River are so vivid, I could taste and smell the water, I could see the gathering of the oysters, the drawings in the caves, the artifacts. I could see the unfortunate souls that had been denied the right to rest in peace after death. I've always been interested in Native American history, the myths, the lore, their way of life, and the way those lives were mistreated, and Megan Chance provides plenty of details, we meet people who dismiss what they cannot understand and people who try to retain an open mind, who struggle to break free from the conformities of their families and their surroundings. Leonie, the heroine of the novel, is such a character.
Leonie tries to find the balance between what she's been taught by her father and her much older husband and what she believes is right. This struggle becomes much more apparent and tense when Daniel, Junius' neglected son, appears in their lives out of the blue. Leonie is a protagonist one can familiarize with. A curious mind, a lover of science and knowledge, but not cold or heartless. She has her doubts and fears and questions, she gradually becomes open to them, wanting to find the answers. Yes, there were times when her docility was a bit infuriating, but aren't there times when we are suddenly granted the change we have sought and we hesitate in front of the fear of the unknown?
I don't think I've hated another character recently as much as I hated Junius, with his pompous remarks and his views of the pure blood of the white race. Full of fake ethics, a man who neglected his family over an ‘‘experiment'' and a common itch. Daniel, on the other hand, is a source of sunlight and fresh air in the novel. Of course, he has his flaws but he is the one who succeeds in shaking Leonie out of her long stupor.
The ending couldn't have been more satisfying, albeit heart-wrenching. Bone River is a haunting, mystical adventure in a forgotten past, buried feelings and desires, and second chances for those who hunt them down with passion. One of the best books I've read this year, one that stays with you long after the back cover is closed.
