Living in the small town of Whistling Ridge in the Rocky Mountains in the US, teenagers Emma Alvarez and Abigail Blake are close and inseparable school friends. Abi is fiercely protective of the other girls’ bullying of Emma as well as their snide comments about her Latino complexion, suggesting she goes back to Mexico, like her father did.
One evening, they are walking back home from a party in the woods at Tall Bones where regular wild parties take place. Abigail tells Emma that she’s going back into the woods and doesn’t want her company. She gives no explanation but assures Emma that she will be fine.
Abigail was never seen again.
Emma is distraught but as the events develop, she begins to wonder whether Abi was as close a friend as she thought she was.
There are complications in Abi’s home life. Her father Samuel is a violent and dysfunctional man, having served in the Vietnam war. Although he is a passionate believer in Jesus and attends the first Baptist Church religiously, he physically abuses his wife Dolly and two sons Noah and Jude if they upset him in the slightest way. Abi is the only one who manages to escape his fury.
The chapters of the book hop from “Now” to “Then” and while this gives added history to the many characters’ behaviour it can get a bit confusing as the reader tries to put the complicated jigsaw of the story together. However, the process is worth it in the end!
After Abigail’s disappearance, Emma develops an addition to alcohol and sets up a non-sexual relationship with Rat Lăcustă, a Romanian prone to drugs and drinking who lives in an RV in Jerry Maddox’s trailer park in the woods. She regularly visits Rat to spend time drinking with him.
However, there is someone else after Rat’s affections. Jerry Maddox’s son Hunter also has his own agenda.
The book’s title Tall Bones refers to an area in the woods of massive towering pale rocks. As Bailey describes them, they are “silent silhouettes against a night sky silvered with moonlight”.
One of the things I enjoyed about the book is Anna Bailey’s description (such as the one above) of the countryside during the various seasons as the stories go along. This gives one a good sense of being there and being part of the story.
Tall Bones is a compelling yet complicated read. The characters are well-drawn and their hopes, desires and actions pertaining to Abigail’s disappearance are kept relatively low-key until the final revelation.
Tall Bones is published by Penguin Random House: ISBN 9780857527394 – Caroline Smart
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