Remembering the Bones: A Novel [Paperback]

Frances Itani (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

Best-selling author Frances Itani’s second novel is a beautifully written, moving tale of the staying power of family through time and memory, and the extent to which individual lives can influence and resonate in the world around them. Born on the exact same day as Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Canadian Georgina Witley is invited to an eightieth birthday lunch at Buckingham Palace. All she has to do is drive to the airport and board the plane for London. Except that Georgie drives off the edge of the road, her car plunging into a thickly wooded ravine. Thrown from the car, injured, and unable to move, she must rely on her full store of family memories, her no-nonsense wit, and a recitation of the names of the bones in her body—an exercise from childhood—to remind her she is still alive. As Georgina lies stranded and helpless, she reflects on her role as a daughter, mother, sister, wife, and widow, on lost loves and painful secrets.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A macabre setup makes for a surprisingly moving read in Canadian writer Itani's second novel to be published in the U.S. (after Deafening). Ottawa born and bred octogenarian Georgie Danforth Whitley has always noted similarities—including their birth dates—between herself and Queen Elizabeth, whom she privately imagines as Lilibet, a kind of parallel life-mate. A serendipitous invitation to enjoy a birthday lunch with the queen in London gives Georgie a rare opportunity to experience independence from her 103-year-old mother and her 50-something daughter. However, a momentary distraction on the drive to the airport ends with Georgie's car falling to the bottom of a ravine—with no one, except maybe Lilibet, knowing she is missing. Minutes turn into days with a wounded Georgie flashing back to pivotal (and not-so-pivotal) moments in her past as she attempts to crawl to her car. The narrative gathers momentum as Georgie's plight becomes increasingly dire and she searches through her catalogue of memories for a measure of her life's worth. The ending, with its potential for melodrama, is expertly played; throughout, Itani handles her tension-fraught material with a precise, light touch. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"In unpretentious, quietly penetrating prose, Itani exposes the richness and depth beneath the surface of one ordinary life." -- The New Yorker

"With this book, Itani joins a group of novelists who have chronicled quiet lives from start to finish, uncovering treasure in their dark corners: Carol Shields with The Stone Diaries, Marilynne Robinson with Gilead . . . Apparently small moments assume lyrical dimensions and significance, and here is where Itani's true gift lies. . . . [Itani] dips into the past to illuminate the present moment, building such emotional complexity that the novel's ending--both inevitable and surprising--is as subtle as it is wrenching." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Similiarly to Alice Munro, Itani eschews pyrotechnics of language in favor of building psychologically toward realization. . . . Itani treats her memorable characters with gentle humor and compassion; in Remembering the Bones, people ache to do their best in a physically and emotionally dangerous world. . . . Beautifully paced . . . [this novel] is, in its every moment, an argument for life." -- The Globe & Mail

"[An] exquisite new novel . . . Itani is a spectacularly sensitive writer, and I could not put this book down, except for the moments when tears clouded my vision. . . . What lifts the book into the realm of the truly special is Itani's remarkable language. . . . Remembering the Bones is a novel not to be missed." -- The Edmonton Journal

"[Itani] crafts a beautiful novel filled with unbearable tension. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802144004
• ISBN-13: 978-0802144003
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #294,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reminiscence, December 22, 2007

By 

Jeffrey T. Atwood - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Remembering the Bones: A Novel (Hardcover)

Frances Itani brings to the surface a woman's full life. This book reminded me of Katherine Anne Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall". The heroine, stranded and injured, lets us join her while she recollects the highs and lows of her long life, beautifully and movingly portrayed.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Going to London to Visit the Queen, March 7, 2008

By 

A. Braun (St Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Remembering the Bones: A Novel (Hardcover)

Poor Georgie Whitley. She's lying at the bottom of a ravine, having backed off into it while leaving her house for the airport. This isn't a spoiler; it happens in the first few pages. And the rest is brilliant. This is one of the finest books I've read. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You will laugh, and I expect you will cry, and you will miss Georgie terribly when you must come to the end of a book. Whatever Georgie's outcome, it occurs to me that finishing a book is like a little death. You can re-read something, but it will never be new to you again, and if you have been as absorbed by it as I was by this one, you will grieve a little. Buy "Remembering the Bones." Now.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars While at the bottom of the ravine...., July 1, 2008

By 

Linda (New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Remembering the Bones (Hardcover)

Georgina (Georgie) who is 80 years old, and shares her birthday with the Queen, is one of the 99 privileged Commonwealth subjects who have been invited to Buckingham Palace for lunch. Georgie lives in Canada and has, all her life, felt close to Lilibet and has been looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Telling her family she can take perfect care of herself, and not to worry, and not to expect her to call them til she returns, Georgie sets off for the airport. En route, however, she has a car accident and ends up down the bottom of a ravine, not too far from her home. But no one knows what has happened. Flung from the car, with a broken leg and arm, ribs, and who knows what else, Georgie has to rely on mind over matter to keep herself alive. She talks to us, she tells us of her life as a child with her sister, mother, aunt and grandparents and a father who was too entrenched in his own life to notice his daughters; she tells us of her own marriage, its sorrows and its joys. She talks to Lilibet, reminding us that only the Queen will be missing her right now. She laughs, she cries, as she celebrates the lives of all those she has loved.

This is a powerfully reflective book, addressing the biggest question of them all, `what is my life worth'? The author keeps a tension between the past, the present and the question-mark of Georgie's future which hangs so precariously in the balance.