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The Bones of Paradise
The Bones of Paradise: A Novel | Jonis Agee
18 posts | 9 read | 74 to read
The award-winning author of The River Wife returns with a multigenerational family saga set in the unforgiving Nebraska Sand Hills in the years following the massacre at Wounded Kneean ambitious tale of history, vengeance, race, guilt, betrayal, family, and belonging, filled with a vivid cast of characters shaped by violence, love, and a desperate loyalty to the land. Ten years after the Seventh Cavalry massacred more than two hundred Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, J.B. Bennett, a white rancher, and Star, a young Native American woman, are murdered in a remote meadow on J.B.s land. The deaths bring together the scattered members of the Bennett family: J.B.s cunning and hard father, Drum; his estranged wife, Dulcinea; and his teenage sons, Cullen and Hayward. As the mystery of these twin deaths unfolds, the history of the dysfunctional Bennetts and their damning secrets is revealed, exposing the conflicted heart of a nation caught between past and future. At the center of The Bones of Paradise are two remarkable women. Dulcinea, returned after bitter years of self-exile, yearns for redemption and the courage to mend her broken family and reclaim the land that is rightfully hers. Rose, scarred by the terrible slaughters that have decimated and dislocated her people, struggles to accept the death of her sister, Star, and refuses to rest until she is avenged. A kaleidoscopic portrait of misfits, schemers, chancers, and dreamers, Jonis Agees bold novel is a panorama of America at the dawn of a new century. A beautiful evocation of this magnificent, blood-soaked landits sweeping prairies, seas of golden grass, and sandy hills, all at the mercy of two unpredictable and terrifying forces, weather and lawlessnessand the durable men and women who dared to tame it. Intimate and epic, The Bones of Paradise is a remarkable achievement: a mystery, a tragedy, a romance, and an unflagging exploration of the beauty and brutality, tenderness and cruelty that defined the settling of the American West.
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review
Nebklvr
Bones of Paradise | Jonis Agee
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Pickpick

This was so depressing but it also felt true. The family was a nightmare. Parts of this felt like overreaching. The Author described the landscape well.

43 likes1 stack add
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BookishMarginalia
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cathysaid ❤️💔 7y
Yanes True! 7y
163 likes2 comments
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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post! Came across this thicker title, published only a few months ago, and its synopsis got me wanting to buy it. Do all of these books think money grows on trees?! It takes place on the Nebraska frontier right after Wounded Knee & focuses on 2 women: Dulcinea, whose estranged husband, J.B., was killed; and Rose, whose Native American sister was killed alongside J.B. The two seek answers in an epic plot. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

KCorter This looks right up your alley, @acorter. 8y
CocoReads This sounds great! 8y
ChasingOm You had me at "multigenerational family saga." 8y
See All 8 Comments
Zelma @ChasingOm yup, me too. 😆 8y
KellyK Seriously @MrBook - I need shorter books to meet my goals, not 400+ page books! But honestly I love nice, long books so it's an add to the ever-growing TBR. 8y
annahenke It's really good! I reviewed it on my blog. 8y
MrBook @KCorter @acorter 😁👏🏻! @CocoReads 😎👌🏻! @ChasingOm @Zelma 😂👍🏻! @KellyK Okie dokie 😊👍🏻! @annahenke Ooh ☺👍🏻!!! 8y
LitsyGoesPostal 😊👍🏻 8y
115 likes13 stack adds8 comments
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RanaElizabeth
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Mehso-so

I wanted to love this, I really did. Everything was in my wheelhouse except for the jumpy writing style. If I have to flip the pages more than once because I thought I missed something, there might be something wrong. I'm still recommending this though, despite it not working for me.
Full review over on Goodreads.

32 likes1 stack add
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RanaElizabeth
Bones of Paradise | Jonis Agee
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Starting a completely random pick off of Overdrive, I've never heard of this author before. I've got high hopes though as it sounds amazing, at least.

annahenke Really loved this one! Reviewed it on my blog. So good! 8y
RanaElizabeth @annahenke So far, so good. And by good, I mean I've already spent more time on Google and Wiki than reading, because, damn my history is sorely lacking in certain areas. 8y
annahenke From what I could tell it's very well researched. 😊 fascinating stuff! 8y
50 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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Litlady
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Picked these up as ARC's at work. Anyone have opinions on any of these titles? They all look interesting .. can't wait to start them! 🤓🍁📚

annahenke The Bones of Paradise was excellent! 8y
37 likes2 comments
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annahenke
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Pickpick

Riveting, brutal, and deeply powerful, this is the story of two families - one Lakota, one white - and the tragedy that links them. Agee has crafted a masterpiece with a plot that's as winding as her lyrical sentences. This story of vengeance, guilt, love, and betrayal is set ten years after the massacre at Wounded Knee, and the characters are as scarred as the land in which they dwell. I can't recommend this highly enough. #litsyfeature

LeahBergen Great review (and now I need it)! 8y
WilliamMorrowBooks Love this!!! 8y
93 likes9 stack adds2 comments
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annahenke
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When your library book is overdue and there's a big hold list...and you just don't care. I've got to finish this one tonight! #overdue

Cortg I call that my donation to the library 😉 8y
Tav Ooh good luck! Such a fun point to be at in a novel. Cc to @WilliamMorrow 8y
88 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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annahenke

When your library book is overdue and there's a big hold list...and you just don't care. I've got to finish this one tonight! #overdue

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annahenke
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This book is beautifully crafted and this line, a message from a dead Lakota woman's spirit, just broke my heart. #whenhistoryhurts #biblioweekend

SharonGoforth I bought this a couple of weeks ago. Looks like I need to move it up in the tbr pile😊 8y
becausetrains How is this in terms of Native representation? An old coworker of mine, a Dakota woman, came up through the tail end of Indian boarding schools and would occasionally share stories about how Whites treat(ed, anyway) the Native population in North and South Dakota. 8y
annahenke @becausetrains I'm only 1/4 in, but so far I feel that representation is fair on all fronts. This is set ten years after wounded knee so nebraska relations between whites and Indians are still turbulent. I like that she's using mult POV to cover the spectrum: a racist white man (unflattering but realistic), a sympathetic white woman who teaches at a reservation school, and most important, two Lakota women. She's shown great respect so far. 8y
becausetrains @ahenke thanks 😊 I've read enough crap that's racist for no purpose, so I'm glad this is realistic without being one-sided. 8y
110 likes16 stack adds4 comments
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annahenke
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Trying to find my groove for the #biblioweekend

I should probably finish the other books I have going.

Nah, I'm going to start a new one instead.

shawnmooney Sounds so interesting! 8y
ApoptyGina69 Thought of you last night when I picked up my pencils and coloring books again. Lost Oceans. When I finish a good one I'll post a pic and tag you. I never replied last time. What I had looked like a bizarre neon '60s Rock poster. 😊 8y
annahenke @ApoptyGina69 looking forward to it! 8y
86 likes4 stack adds4 comments
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Soscha
Bones of Paradise | Jonis Agee
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#Bookmail! Yay! It's been awhile.

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WilliamMorrowBooks
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Join us live on Facebook tomorrow 8/24 at 3pm ET! We'll be talking our August book recs that include some of the beauties on this shelf here.📚📚😜

Penny_LiteraryHoarders Wow! The Bones of Paradise looks like my kind of read! 8y
Penny_LiteraryHoarders And I'll definitely be reading Closed Casket (thought Hannah did great job with MM book!) Would you be able to link to The American Girl book? Would love to read the details about that one. 😊 8y
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
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annahenke
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I'm contemplating making this my next print read. Has anyone read it? Thoughts?

Peaceful_Reader Jonis Agee was my favorite English professor in college! I've not read this though. 8y
Tav @WilliamMorrow has read it! 8y
JenniferShepard @Peaceful_Reader : Where did you go to college? Agee was a favorite at my alma mater too (in the late 80s). I have only read Sweet Eyes, which pubbed in '91, and it was good. 8y
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ForestAvenuePress I read The River Wife and really liked it but haven't read any others yet. 8y
annahenke Well, I can get behind an author rec, will probably start today. It's on a fascinating historical event so I'm here for that! @Peaceful_Reader @Tav @WilliamMorrow @jshepard @ForestAvenuePress 8y
WilliamMorrowBooks I love this one!! The writing is beautiful! 8y
Peaceful_Reader @jshepard : i went to The College of St Catherine in St Paul, Mn in the 80's. All-women's liberal arts-she was an English professor. I know she left after I graduated to teach in NE. 8y
JenniferShepard fellow Katie here. class of '89. cheers! 8y
65 likes3 stack adds9 comments
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BethFishReads
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This is soooooo me. Late 1800s, northern plains, family saga, strong women, rough life. "It was midmorning in early May when J. B. Bennett crested the hill, stopped, and surveyed the little Sand Hills meadow where the windmill was slowly clanking in a wobbly circle."

LitHousewife Great picture! 8y
16 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Bookdodger
Mehso-so

This book had some truly terrific moments that really placed the reader in time and location beautifully. However, the author needed to provide a more plausible reason for a mother/ wife to leave her sons/ beloved husband for ten years. The book is a good read but not superlative.

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Bookdodger
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This is exactly what it is like out here.

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Bookdodger
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Starting this one. Love the writing so far!