To the Bone

by Alena Bruzas Narrated by Not Yet Available

Overview

This gripping, shocking, and exquisitely crafted survival story reveals the truth of America's colonial history in a powerful new way-visceral and breathtaking.

After the long journey from England, Ellis arrives in America full of hope. James Fort is where a better life will begin for her: where she will work as an indentured servant to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife, gain financial security, and fall deeply in love with bold, glorious Jane Eddowes.

But as summer turns to fall, Ellis begins to notice the cracks in this new life-the viciousness of the colonists toward the Indigenous people and the terrifying anger Henry uses to control his wife and Ellis-leaving her to wonder if she has sentenced herself to a prison rather than a new home.

Then winter arrives and hunger grips the Fort. Ellis is about to learn that people will do whatever it takes to survive.

To the Bone is a riveting story of survival and horror that forcefully overturns the mythos of the American settler. It will stay with you, forever.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/17/2024

Bruzas (Ever Since) interweaves real-life U.S. history with brutal horror elements to craft a grotesque reimagining of the founding of America set in 1609 James Fort. Teenage Ellis thought that becoming an indentured servant to the wealthy Collinses would be her ticket to freedom. Instead, she witnesses the collapse of both her employer’s family and the fledgling society they live in. Conditions within James Fort have worsened as the colonizers wage war on the Indigenous population, Master Collins is physically abusive toward Ellis and his pregnant wife, and the protections promised to Ellis by Collins seem much more tenuous than she had anticipated. When she meets Jane, the daughter of the nearby Eddowes family, she falls hopelessly in love and dreams of a future in which she owns land and can be with Jane freely. But as winter approaches and a haze of desperation and hunger descends upon James Fort, things take a turn for the worse. Meandering descriptions of Ellis’s everyday life are occasionally repetitive. Nevertheless, via first-rate prose, Bruzas seeds pockets of tenderness, warmth, and romance throughout, lending emotional weight to the unfolding horrors. An author’s note concludes. Characters are white. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

A tale of graceful devastation. Alena Bruzas’s flawless prose embroiders one of the most brutal periods of our country’s early history with a pure and glinting thread of humanity. A chilling, unforgettable story.”—Gillian French, author of Sugaring Off and The Lies They Tell
 
“Tragic, harrowing, and raw, To the Bone is fraught with tension, longing, and an increasing sense of dread that makes it difficult to look away.”—Erin Bowman, author of Vengeance Road
 
“Alena Bruzas has spun a tale that will crawl under your skin and refuse to leave. To the Bone is a unique and unforgettable read.”—June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace

Product Details

BN ID:	2940160443881
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/10/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged