Bone House

From Publishers Weekly A maid in early 17th-century rural England investigates the death of the village prostitute in this elegant, haunting debut novel. Dora, a Flemish woman from "across the water," plied her trade in the village, and was accepted by the residents and admired by many. Her violent endAshe is found dead at the bottom of a ravineAis therefore all the more mysterious. The unnamed narrator, a 19-year-old maid to an elderly mistress and her reclusive, deformed son, Edward, in the Great House, recalls Dora as an earthy and sensual woman, a teller of stories who was far warmer than the narrator's own mother, the village midwife. The narrator and her mother care for Dora's misfit son, called Long Boy, only 11 but "trapped in a man's body," after his mother's death. When it becomes known that Dora was pregnant when she died and had premonitions of her fate, the maid begins to investigate. Meanwhile, a foreign-born portrait painter comes to stay at the Great House, and the narrator is pulled into his orbit when Edward secretly asks for a commemorative portrait of the dead Dora. While the village churns with suspicions, the heroine continues her quiet but obsessive search for the truth. At the same time, her connection to the painter grows stronger, and she increasingly questions women's place in the world. These larger themes are handled adroitly; the realistic period detail is meticulously rendered; and the naturalness of the heroine's thought processes and inner life adds to the authenticity. If the plot twists are at times melodramatic, a quieter balance is achieved through the background of post-Elizabethan village life and customs. (Feb. 1) Forecast: A taut and assured debut, the novel will appeal to readers of Poison by Kathryn Harrison and Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (who blurbs the book). Tobin, an American who lives in England, could win many readers here through handselling of this seductive story. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Adult/High School-The death of the local prostitute, Dora, leads to an investigation pointing toward murder. When her grave is found opened and her body goes missing, witchcraft and the workings of evil lead the magistrate to investigate the local midwife, who happens to be the mother of the story's narrator. Thickly detailed with the difficulties of the Elizabethan era, this novel paints an authentic sense of time and place including details of early medicine, herbal remedies, and primitive attempts at legal investigation. Several other important characters emerge: Dora's son, Long Boy, darkly emotional and a giant of a child; the old master of the Great House; and a hired portrait painter. The mystery of who killed Dora and why haunts the narrative until the very end. Though the name of the narrator remains unknown, Tobin crafts her personality as clearly as a sharply focused picture. Indeed, all the characters spring to life as they assume their parts in the story. A mix of murder mystery and historical fiction that's sure to keep the pages turning.