"The Bone People" by Keri Hulme

This book has been on my reading list for a while. There’s a lot of really unusual things about it, which is probably why it was rejected by many (many) publishers before it finally was printed.

The first thing that struck me was that the narration style is very unique. Sections are written from the perspective of one of three people, so first you have to figure out who is narrating. Then it will alternate between their narration, and an internal monologue that is their thoughts and associations. Sometimes the narration and the internal monologue could be about two completely different things. Sometimes the person narrating will flip flop around a little. Sometimes the situation they are narrating with jump around temporally. It takes a little getting used to, but to be honest I enjoyed it because it was different. It makes you work initially, but eventually you get used to it.

To move on to the story, it focuses on three characters and their relationship. The first character you meet is a recluse painter named Kerewin. One day she finds a small boy in her Tower. The boy’s name is Simon, and he’s mute. So an interesting layer to their relationship is how they communicate despite him not being able to talk. Then Simon’s dad, Joe, enters the scene. The three of them become close, as Simon takes a liking to Kerewin (despite not liking many other people) and Kerewin finds herself opening up for the first time in years.

Honestly there is not a whole ton to the plot, but then about halfway through everything starts falling apart. And that’s where the title comes in. The Bone People can be interpreted in two main ways. First of all, each of the characters is more or less stripped to the bone. The ending section devotes a chapter to each one of them, as they try to cope with their shortcomings alone. They each fall apart, and need to figure out how to get themselves together again. The other way to interpret it has to do with Maori culture. Both Joe and Kerewin have an interest in Maori culture (despite the fact that Kerewin is not Maori). Bones play a large part in Maori beliefs, so the title could be referring to that as well.

While we are on the subject, Hulme includes a blend of Western and Maori cultures in this book. It does not come out exclusively for one over the other, but advocates a mixture. This can be seen most clearly with Kerewin, as she has cobbled together a small book with texts from many religions that she reads from. This resonated pretty strongly with me, since I’m interested in religion and feel like my beliefs are somewhat cobbled together from many cultures.

In addition to all that, I finally remembered why this was on my reading list for a while. While never explicitly states, Kerewin is probably asexual and aromantic. When asked (by a few characters) if she is marrying Joe, Kerewin usually says something along the lines of her not being the marrying kind. She states this more explicitly when talking to Joe about it, she says that she never had any interest in sex or being intimate with anyone. No one hurt her, that’s just who she is. Which is such a refreshing portrayal! Too often asexuality is seen as someone who was “broken” or needed “fixing” or something like that, it’s nice to see someone where it is simply who they are, no need to alter it. And additionally, her relationship with Joe and Simon is a great portrayal of friendship and love, without it being romantic in any sense. Because they all clearly care about each other.

That is what this book is really about, how caring for others can change you and transform into something greater than yourself. You can be tempted to give up on it, but in the end it is worth it. What’s nice about this is that the book puts the emphasis on someone coming to this conclusion on their own, so this is a choice you must make independently. But in the end you need other people around.