Rating: 
Summary: Atmospheric and suspenseful
Review: A first novel set in rural 17th century England, "Bone House" centers around the death of a big, generous woman, Dora, a prostitute and a fearless outsider with one surviving child, a slow-minded boy.The narrator, a young maid at the Great House, daughter of a silent, joyless midwife, was fascinated by Dora's large heart and easy morals and is shocked at how easily she died - in a fall from an icy cliff. Helping her mother care for Dora's son, she discovers two of Dora's secrets, one of which leads back to the manor where the mistress lives with her hunchbacked son. "The Great House never fails to soothe me. I have always felt upon entering it that I could leave myself at the door, place it on a hook with the hats and scarves, and once inside I am lost behind the screens to other people's lives." As maid to the bedridden mistress, she has learned to read and her duties, while demanding, are not arduous. But her obsession with Dora's life and death and secrets, and the coming of an itinerant painter with a secret agenda of his own, distracts her from her tasks and awakens thoughts which challenge unquestioned assumptions about class, passion and self-worth. Tobin grounds her story in an atmosphere of grinding hardship where the rooms are always cold, the work hard, the filth ubiquitous and death never far. "Bone House" is an Elizabethan term for the body and its appetites and vulnerabilities are central themes. Secrets and superstitions weave through the narrative, provoking accusations of witchcraft and murder, building to a climax as poignant as it is shocking. Elegantly but sparely written, atmospheric and enigmatic, Tobin's first novel is engrossing and suspenseful.
Rating:
Summary: Atmospheric and suspenseful
Review: A first novel set in rural 17th century England, "Bone House" centers around the death of a big, generous woman, Dora, a prostitute and a fearless outsider with one surviving child, a slow-minded boy. The narrator, a young maid at the Great House, daughter of a silent, joyless midwife, was fascinated by Dora's large heart and easy morals and is shocked at how easily she died - in a fall from an icy cliff. Helping her mother care for Dora's son, she discovers two of Dora's secrets, one of which leads back to the manor where the mistress lives with her hunchbacked son. "The Great House never fails to soothe me. I have always felt upon entering it that I could leave myself at the door, place it on a hook with the hats and scarves, and once inside I am lost behind the screens to other people's lives." As maid to the bedridden mistress, she has learned to read and her duties, while demanding, are not arduous. But her obsession with Dora's life and death and secrets, and the coming of an itinerant painter with a secret agenda of his own, distracts her from her tasks and awakens thoughts which challenge unquestioned assumptions about class, passion and self-worth. Tobin grounds her story in an atmosphere of grinding hardship where the rooms are always cold, the work hard, the filth ubiquitous and death never far. "Bone House" is an Elizabethan term for the body and its appetites and vulnerabilities are central themes. Secrets and superstitions weave through the narrative, provoking accusations of witchcraft and murder, building to a climax as poignant as it is shocking. Elegantly but sparely written, atmospheric and enigmatic, Tobin's first novel is engrossing and suspenseful.
Rating: 
Summary: Pick it up...and you won't put it down!
Review: Bone House is a great read...and a great debut for this author.
I was surprised that it did not receive more accolades and better promotion. I disagree with the reviewer who stated the historical content was askew---bearing in mind that this is a novel, not a text. I think that review gives an unfair impression of the book overall. It is incorrect to state that in the 17th century, the classes never intermingled-or married. There has never been evidence to prove that this is an ummitigated fact, it is merely what we assume. If gothic, historical fiction appeals to you-read it. I would even guess that you too, will look forward to Betsy Tobin's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Pick it up...and you won't put it down!
Review: Bone House is a great read...and a great debut for this author.
I was surprised that it did not receive more accolades and better promotion. I disagree with the reviewer who stated the historical content was askew---bearing in mind that this is a novel, not a text. I think that review gives an unfair impression of the book overall. It is incorrect to state that in the 17th century, the classes never intermingled-or married. There has never been evidence to prove that this is an ummitigated fact, it is merely what we assume. If gothic, historical fiction appeals to you-read it. I would even guess that you too, will look forward to Betsy Tobin's next book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book.
Review: I absolutely loved this book. The only bad thing that I can say about it is that it was too short. I enjoyed it so much that I didn't want it to end.
Rating:
Summary: Bone House
Review: I would first like to say that this book supposedly takes place in the 17th century; however, there is very little that would distinguish that particular time period, from any other, in this book. Now, on to the good stuff. Betsy Tobin has written a very compelling little tale about finding one's place in the world (as well as one's true self,) disguised as a murder mystery. The story and style remind me strongly of Thomas H Cook. Tobin's prose is not as stylish or romantic as Cook's, but she has struck the nerve of human emotion and discovery that many of Cook's books achieve. Although 'Bone House' is a short novel, it is very satisfying in the end. While you are waiting for Tobin's next book, check out Thomas H Cook.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant Debut
Review: Ms. Betsy Tobin has delivered a subtle, elegant, and sometimes startling view of 17th Century Elizabethan England. From the portrait by Godfried Schalken (1643-1706) that ornaments the book's jacket, the writer has placed her tale with authenticity and historical detail that raises the book above just another novel. Ms. Tobin does not give her readers headlines from History to quickly establish for all the time period she sets her story in. Rather she brings the small details of daily life and language that establishes her as an Author who is meticulous with her research, and who respects her readers. She demonstrates that fiction need not be bereft of educational detail. It would be interesting to know the story behind the painting on the cover. For any who enjoyed Ms. Tracy Chevalier's, "The Girl With The Pearl Earring", the woman on the cover gazing over her left shoulder with a tear shaped pearl earring will appear remarkably familiar. While not the same girl, or the same artist, the picture is appropriate once the story is engaged. I want to qualify the use of the word startling. One of the primary characters is a mid-wife who during the tale delivers children and relates stories of other births. The birth of a child is many things, that anyone would find the descriptions in this book distasteful is absurd and infantile. To expect that a difficult delivery in the 17th Century would be any more pleasant than today is also an expression of ignorance. To be fair, if detailed descriptions of surgery bother you, there are passages in the book they may make you wince. There are not in any manner inappropriate, nor are they some slovenly device to shock or appeal to the prurient. The only reason for the lack of a fifth star is that I would imagine that as a writer this Author will write even more engaging books. However if she stopped at one, she has still made a worthy addition to good literature.
Rating:
Summary: brilliantly satisfying read
Review: Others have summarized the plot. I will only say that I have rarely found such a satisfying read. The novel is relatively spare, a complex plot woven into about 220 pages. The author makes the world of Elizabethan England come alive to the reader in a very real, present way, especially the details concerning medicine, midwifery, and women's history. I loved the juxtapostion of the three central female characters: the lady's maid, the midwife accused of witchcraft, and the prostitute. My only cautionary note is that this is more of a literary historical novel than a formulaic mystery. Dip in and enjoy this masterfully crafted book in all its complexity.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Read - Couldn't put it down...
Review: Set in 17th century England, Tobin's "Bone House" spins a tale of village intrigue in the time when witches were believed to be real and people were easily afraid. She gives us an enjoyable and light read . . . but the book lacks verisimilitude when it comes to interclass relations . . . The mistress of a 17th century Great House would never have attempted to partner her son and heir with her maid, no matter how desperate she was to see her son married off. Nor would a ladies maid be likely to have the freedom of movement within and without the house that Tobin's protagonist does. The ending was predictable, as was the romantic involvement. One step away from a romance novel, one step away from historical fiction . . . this book stands on its own, and will probably be attractive to readers of both genres. If you're seeking something with a bit more meat, I suggest you look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: A seventeenth century English romance and mystery.
Review: Set in rural England sometime around the seventeenth century, this tightly controlled first novel is told by a young woman who works as a maid in the Great House and returns often to visit her mother, who is a mid-wife in the village. When Dora, a huge woman from the village, with apparently equally huge appetites, is found dead, the village is not long in deciding that this may be murder, rather than the accident it appears to be. Skillfully incorporating a vast amount of period detail when establishing the setting and atmosphere, Tobin also incorporates medical treatments, dreams thought to be inspired by the devil, and graphic accounts of childbirth, burials, and bewitchment. Itinerant elixir-salesmen, domestic workers in the Great House, local pub patrons, and magistrates provide color and supplement the main characters--the cruel master of the Great House and his sadly deformed son, the sickly and deluded mistress of the house, the narrator's stern and private mother, Dora's simple 11-year-old son with the body of a man and a hidden cache of gold, and Dora herself, who arrived in the village suddenly from afar and whose past is mysterious. The narrative is very smooth and conversational in tone, flowing quickly and apparently effortlessly. The story is uncomplicated, with a grand finale of an ending. Lovers of romances will find it especially appealing.
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