BONE GAP

Ruby, L. (2015). Bone Gap. New York: Balzer Bray.


Laura Ruby spins a story full of magic-realism that can be both mysterious and confusing but in the end leaves the reader satisfied.

The book’s protagonist, "Moonface" Finn O'Sullivan, finds himself lost and isolated amongst a field of familiar strangers. Bone Gap, Illinois has always been his home, but everyone has always kept him at a distance because they feel that he is different than they are. Although no one can pinpoint what separates him from the rest of the populace, they feel that his is something dissimilar to them. This probably stems from his reluctance to look anyone in the eye and how he seems to inhabit his own personal world that doesn’t include them.

The second main character is Sean O'Sullivan; he is Finn’s older brother and guardian. He assumes this role and ignores the possibility of a bright future when their mother abandons them.

Their lives change when they find a beat up Roza in their shed. The Polish girl had traveled to Chicago to study botany but instead ended up getting abused. She is on the run from her abuser and finds it difficult to trust the O’Sullivan brother but eventually she does. And it is just when she starts to blossom like the flowers she loves, she is ripped from their lives.

The people of Bone Gap believe that she left the boys like their mother did, but Finn knows better. He witnessed her abduction but is unable to describe the perpetrator.

The enigmatic Roza is a mystery to the boys. They find her in their shed and it looks like she was beaten up. She doesn't say much to them but from what they can gather is that she is on the run from a man, but who is he? Roza doesn't trust easily, she has learned that men will only use her for her beauty. Slowly she learns that Sean and Finn are trustworthy and she ends up opening up to them. The relationship is something that all can see, "Charlie had no idea who needed whom more- Roza, those boys, those boys, Roza. It all felt fated somehow. "

But just as their friendship blossoms, Roza is torn from their lives. People think she up and left just as suddenly as she appeared, but Finn knows the truth. He saw someone take her from the cornfields, but when he can't describe him, everyone thinks he just made it up.

At its core this story is about the power of love and acceptance.