Remembering the Bones: A Novel

Georgina (Georgie) who is 80 years old, and shares her birthday with the Queen, is one of the 99 privileged Commonwealth subjects who have been invited to Buckingham Palace for lunch. Georgie lives in Canada and has, all her life, felt close to Lilibet and has been looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Telling her family she can take perfect care of herself, and not to worry, and not to expect her to call them til she returns, Georgie sets off for the airport. En route, however, she has a car accident and ends up down the bottom of a ravine, not too far from her home. But no one knows what has happened. Flung from the car, with a broken leg and arm, ribs, and who knows what else, Georgie has to rely on mind over matter to keep herself alive. She talks to us, she tells us of her life as a child with her sister, mother, aunt and grandparents and a father who was too entrenched in his own life to notice his daughters; she tells us of her own marriage, its sorrows and its joys. She talks to Lilibet, reminding us that only the Queen will be missing her right now. She laughs, she cries, as she celebrates the lives of all those she has loved. This is a powerfully reflective book, addressing the biggest question of them all, `what is my life worth'? The author keeps a tension between the past, the present and the question-mark of Georgie's future which hangs so precariously in the balance.

80 year old Georgina Witley has been invited by the Queen, with whom she shares a birthday, to join her and other invitees from around the Commonwealth, at a special luncheon at Buckingham Palace. Having declined an offer by her daughter to drive her to the airport to fly from Canada to Britain, she loses control of her car, just close to her home and lands, relatively unhurt at the bottom of a ravine. Unable to do more than wiggle an arm and one leg, and realising that people think her to be in the UK, she resigns herself to the fact that she is unlikely to be rescued at any time soon, and fills in the time by reliving her life from the beginning, and what a life it has been. I really related to a lot of the aspects of this story and highly recommend it as a superb read which will strike chords with many people.

Poor Georgie Whitley. She's lying at the bottom of a ravine, having backed off into it while leaving her house for the airport. This isn't a spoiler; it happens in the first few pages. And the rest is brilliant. This is one of the finest books I've read. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You will laugh, and I expect you will cry, and you will miss Georgie terribly when you must come to the end of a book. Whatever Georgie's outcome, it occurs to me that finishing a book is like a little death. You can re-read something, but it will never be new to you again, and if you have been as absorbed by it as I was by this one, you will grieve a little. Buy "Remembering the Bones." Now.

Excellent book and fast read--the author takes you from the present time of an 80-yr.old woman stuck in a ravine from a car wreck while heading to the airport to go to London for the Queen's 80's birthday--the same day as hers! The author moves from the present to the past in a smooth transition, giving you glimpses of this trapped lady's life--an excellent read all the way to the end. Try it; you'll like it!

Frances Itani brings to the surface a woman's full life. This book reminded me of Katherine Anne Porter's short story "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall". The heroine, stranded and injured, lets us join her while she recollects the highs and lows of her long life, beautifully and movingly portrayed.