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esessa 's review for:
The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up The Bone People. Given that the description in the blurb says it mostly depicts the relationships among a small group of people, I wasn't surprised to find that this was the case, but I was pleasantly surprised by the intensity of the character study, which felt very Steinbeck-ian to me (indeed, I read The Wayward Bus shortly before this and the two books really resonated with one another in the type of person depicted and the harshness with which their realities were shared). I was NOT expecting the intensity of the child abuse depicted here, and if that bothers you, you will struggle with this book. I also found the last 1/4 or so of the novel to be really difficult to relate to... there are some more or less magical-realism elements that intrude (and I do mean intrude) on what until that point was a story totally grounded in reality. That diversion seemed totally unnecessary and kind of spoiled it for me - I would have preferred it to end realistically rather than having more or less a happy ending that could only be achieved by magical means. Still, the writing was beautiful so I'll give it five stars.