Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead: A Novel

Olga Tokarczuk

Aug 2019 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

"A brilliant literary murder mystery." —Chicago Tribune

"Extraordinary. Tokarczuk's novel is funny, vivid, dangerous, and disturbing, and it raises some fierce questions about human behavior. My sincere admiration for her brilliant work." —Annie Proulx

In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind . . .

A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Ratings and reviews

I couldn't get into this book. I was hoping it would be more focused on the mystery of the murders. Most of the book is Jania speaking about astrology and treatment of animals. The book isn't bad, it just was not for me. I was left uninterested and looking for more, that was until chapter 16. Chapter 16 until the end was very good and when you arrive at this point you understand why the whole book couldn't be this way.

Makes you wonder if sanity is overrated when you see what it's like to be a crazy old lady

The writing, story and charactets didn't appeal to me.

About the author

Olga Tokarczuk has won the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Book International Prize, among many other honors. She is the author of a dozen works of fiction, two collections of essays, and a children’s book; her work has been translated into fifty languages.