The Bone Fire - György Dragomán
This is one of those books that you will love or not love so much. I personally loved it, and really want to read more from György Dragomán!
Set in an unnamed, post-revolution Eastern European country, where a terrible, bloody, dictatorship has just been toppled, Emma finds herself recently orphaned and alone. When a grandmother that she never knew she had comes to pick her up from the institution she is living in she finds herself immersed in a world that she has to learn to navigate by herself.
The language in this novel is very unique, and I can understand why it would put some people off at first. It is deceptively simple, with little punctuation and a continuous present tense. But once you get used to it it becomes lyrical, beautiful even, and gives you a very specific view into Emma’s world from her own eyes.
Having personally witnessed Poland before and after the end of the Communist dictatorship I found myself thinking back to those times while reading this novel, wondering what was real and what wasn’t.
There is a lot of magical realism in this novel, and a lot of darkness, and metaphors for pain and terror. I personally couldn’t put it down.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.