Remembering the Bones - Hardcover

"Itani's writing is merely breathtaking." "Itani revisits words with an arresting power most of us have forgotten. But she wields that power with quiet, remarkable effect." "Emotionally resonant... Several profound themes--including the curative power of language, the endurance of faith, and the vital role of storytelling in life, love, and war--are expertly enmeshed in this imaginatively crafted tale." "Impressive ... Itani does not shy away from war's unflattering profile.... [She] deftly links sound and silence, war and deafness, bravely confronting the need for human connection in times of war and, in turn, the acute pain of sustaining such connection." "Itani's lean, absorbing prose re-creates the different kinds of cocoons enfolding her characters....This mesmerizing and quietly remarkable novel captures a young couple bound by a private language of fingers on lips and thoughts unvoiced and unutterable across the rift of the sea." "Admirably understated, touching, and restrained. [Itani] writes lyrically about the magical, mysterious way that language, intimacy, and trust enable a deaf woman to hear the sounds of the sea and of music--and of how cataclysmic historical events can touch, shatter, and ultimately strengthen even the most interior life."

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?