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Book Reviewed by: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.
Excerpt
Bone River
The air was crisp and expectant. The storm had swept away the clouds, and the
sun was shining, a brisk, chill breeze blowing off the water, summer's warmth
gone for good. Sodden leaves from the alders and maples scattered over
the grass, gold and orange and brown. Fallen branches lay cracked and
splintered all about. I stepped through the clutter on the narrow porch,
beaten old chairs and piles of nets and an old pair of long oystering
tongs, and went down the stairs to the yard.
I was at the river before I realized I was heading toward it. I stared down
into the churning water, the long grass of the bank trailing in its
eddies, the currents at the shore lapping more roughly with the stirring
up of the storm and the added rain. Usually I could see to the bottom
here at the shore, but not this morning; it was murky and mysterious
today.
It was then I heard the noise that had me glancing toward the mouth of the
river where it plunged...
Megan Chance's Bone River is a top choice among BookBrowse readers. 18 out of 20 reviewers gave it 4 or 5 stars! Here is what they say about this highly regarded 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? (Darlene C) 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 (Joyce S)...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by First Impressions Reviewers).
Ethnology is a section of anthropology that analyzes the differences between religion, language, technologies and other social structures of people as categorized by race, nationality or ethnicity. Its goals are broad – to understand the history of human beings and the creation of our various social norms (as defined by race, nationality or ethnicity). It has become exceedingly similar to cultural anthropology and social anthropology, so much so that the three terms are often interchangeable. Another way to understand ethnology is that it is the study of living cultures, both in their own, separate rights, and as compared to others across the world.
In Bone River, Leonie and her husband, Junius, are ethnologists who study skeletons...
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