Remembering The Bones

Frances Itani succeeds her stunning American debut novel, Deafening, about a deaf woman during World War I, with a captivating reflection on the staying power of family throughout time and memory, and the extent to which individual lives can influence and resonate in the world around them. Born on April 21, 1926, the exact same day as Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Canadian Georgina Danforth Witley is one of ninety-nine privileged Commonwealth subjects invited to an eightieth birthday lunch at Buckingham Palace. All she has to do is drive two hours 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 strength, her full store of family memories, her no-nonsense wit, and a recitation of the names of the bones in her body--a long-forgotten exercise from childhood that reminds her she is still very much 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. Charming, witty, whimsical, and profound, Remembering the Bones offers a moving insight into the life of one ordinary woman who, while drawing on her instincts to survive, asks herself: what has it all amounted to?