What readers think of Bone River, plus links to write your own review.

I really liked this book! The characters were well drawn and I could feel the atmosphere, the cold and wet and the struggles of Leonie. Even though I sort of figured out the ending, the author really made it even more compelling in the way she tied it together. I would definitely recommend this book and it would be a really interesting book group discussion.

A very engrossing story. I liked Leonie Russell from beginning to end and cheered her struggle to be herself and think for herself against the wishes of both her father and her husband. An inherently kind and thoughtful person it isn't always easy for her to make waves but she learns to seek her own life and happiness. Enough surprises to keep you really interested.

Here is a story in which you actually lose yourself and become one with the characters. As a reader, I floated around like the spirits Leonie dreamed about and needed to know the secrets kept by the the Leonie's father and her husband Junius. Megan Chance writes with detail and feeling and allows the reader to feel the cold of the storms and waters of the oyster beds. She has researched the time period with great precision and given her character, Leonie, the strength to fight for what she needs and wants as a woman.

This is one of those special books that tells a unique story through mystery and romance by an author who knows how to write and intrigue her readers. This will be one of my favorite books of 2012.

Once I began the prologue, I was hooked. I read page after page, and hated when I had to put it down. And then as I neared the end I felt like I didn't want it to end. In my opinion, that's a really good book. The characters are compelling, especially Leonie. The writing is beautiful and atmospheric. Throughout the book I felt as though I was there on the Querquelin River. I found the native American culture interesting and I was sad at how their culture was treated by ethnologists. And I was reminded how hard the life of a woman during this period was.

There are many wonderful themes for discussion, and I can't wait to recommend to my Book Club.

Leoni Russell lives in the Pacific Northwest during the mid-'80's, where she works with her husband as an ethnologist and oysterman. The work is grueling and the weather is punishing. Her father was an ethnologist as well, and, on his deathbed, made her promise to marry his partner, who is 20 years her senior. An Indian, called Uncle Tom, is very much in their lives as well as other local Native Americans. Leoni and her husband, Junius, collect artifacts and fossils from the surrounding area for shiphment to the Smithsonion Museum in Washington. Leoni finds a basket in the river which contains the mummy of a woman who appears to be ancient, and soon after, her husband's estranged son appears. Her dreams, the son's intrusion into her life and the warnings of a Native American woman lead her to question the life she has lead. There is a mystery involved and as the narrative continues, the mystery and the lives involved unravel.
The author brings the narrative to an extremely exciting climax, and in the meantime, she draws her main characters fully.
The story and characters kept me engrossed throughout the story, and the big question involving the moral conflict of using items found in the sacred places of other peoples opposed to using the artifacts for historical research is posed throughout the book.

I know I'm in for a good read, when the first time I pick up the book I don't put it down until Chapter 6, the second time took me to 10, then 15, and today I finished it. Do I really need to say I really enjoyed it? Beautifully written, a bit historical, a bit mystery, a bit moral dilemma, and a bit of unexpected hot romance; an original story that's refreshingly unpredictable with surprising twists. Would make a great book club choice.

This book is set in the Pacific Northwest. Lea is the central character. She was trained as an ethnologist by her father. Her father who, at the end of his life, arranged a marriage for her with an older man, Junius, who is also a collector.

I found this book very absorbing and, after I finished it, I wished that the story had continued. Throughout the novel, the reader learns more and more about Lea. I found my frustration with her being tempered by her circumstances. This is a wonderful story about a strong and resilient woman. I would recommend this book to my friends.

Bone River will be hard to contain, leaping fences from one genre to another. Is it historical fiction? paranormal romance? a novel of ideas? The setting is late frontier on the Pacific Northwest coast, Native American cultures giving way to small settlements. The main cast is small (three men and a woman) but the bays, tides, rivers, oyster beds and rain make place a fifth character. The plot broods, becoming atmospheric and closed in, distant kin to Wuthering Heights. Fortunately, while the plot is slow simmering, there are themes to noodle: right-brain/left-brain sensibilities, gender roles, the morality of objective science. We see the story through Leonie and Leonie sees deeply by drawing in her journal. It would be nice to have these drawings, in some future illustrated edition of this book. Water carries the several plot lines along nicely, first revealing, then threatening, and finally washing away.