Georgie Danforth Witley shares her birthday with Queen Elizabeth and has been specially invited by lottery draw, to attend an 80th birthday party hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. On the way to the airport, just metres away from her driveway, Georgie’s car goes off the road and over the edge of a ravine. Not wearing her seatbelt, Georgie is thrown clear of the car and wakes up lying on her back at the bottom of the ravine. She quickly takes stock, realizing she has a few broken bones but otherwise is okay. How though to signal for help? Will anyone find her in time?
Georgie is a survivor. Stuck at the bottom of a ravine, she is not completely helpless. She knows if she can just inch her way along the ground, reach the car, she can blow the horn to summon help. But she is 80 years old, with a broken right leg, and an unusable right arm, yet still she prevails and forces herself to drag her body inch by miniscule inch towards the car.
Over a period of days, we are with Georgie in her struggle to survive, while she keeps herself hydrated sucking on her sweater’s buttons, and keeps her mind sane by remembering past events. Life really does flash by at moments of great peril. In Georgie’s case it’s a trip down memory lane that is fascinating reading. From learning about her grandmother surviving news of her husband’s death in WWI, to the family’s struggle through the Great Depression, to living through WWII, we understand the strength of stock Georgie descends from, that gives her the will to survive the car accident that has stuck her in a ravine, unseen from above.
Georgie shares with us family antidotes passed down in stories from her grandmother and mother, as well as tales of her own upbringing in Grand Dan’s house, where she discovers her grandfather’s copy of Gray’s Anatomy and becomes fascinated with the human skeleton. As a young married woman, there is the mix of heartbreak and happiness that all lives endure. Georgie invites us into her life with warm and practicality, not afraid to pull back the curtain, revealing the bad along with the good. Georgie soon becomes someone you’d love to have over for tea, an endearing soul who’s stories you never tire of hearing. Truly heartwarming, Remembering the Bones will have you laughing, crying, and pondering the important things in life.
Till next time, happy reading!
L J
| TBR = 15 | WPL = 23 |
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