Frances Itani writes beautifully. She had a way of summing up an entire paragraph in a few short words in a concluding sentence. Her book is full of wonderful, strong women with interesting lives. ( )

i really liked this. great ending. wonderful reader. ( )

This is a strange story of an elderly woman, George (Georgina)Danford, on her way to the airport. She has been invited to London to have lunch with the Queen and other women who share the same birthday as the Queen. However, she loses control of her car and slides off the road into a ravine. She holds on to her sanity and life by reciting the bones of the body and reliving the memories that come back to her. Frances Itani is a Canadian writer. This is the first of her work that I have read; I will certainly read more. She has a clear style. It is concise and creates a sense of voyeurism as the reader stays with George, sharing the memories, the pain and the suffering, waiting days for someone to realize that she was not on the plane to London.

We are introduced to Georgie Danforth Whitley. She is a Canadian widow. Her Husband passed away 3 years ago. Georgie is getting ready to go to London, England. She has been invited to London for a celebratory luncheon honoring Queen Elizabeth's 80th birthday. She shares the same birthday with the Queen. She is one of 99 commoners who have been invited. We discover that Georgie is fascinated with the Queen. (BTW most Canadians are fascinated with the royal family.) Through all Georgies careful planning she will not make it to the palace this time.

On the way to the local airport Georgie gets distracted and her car slips off the road, through the guard rail and flips twice down the hillside. Georgie is thrown from the car into the brush. There is no visible sign from the road that an accident ever occured.

Georgie is alone and helpless. When she was a little girl she dicovered her grandfathers 1901 Edition of Grays Anatomy. She memorized all the bones in a human body. Which you will discover that after the first chapter all the other chapters in the book are named after bones in the body. Each bone tells a story from her past.

I liked this book better than [book:The Stone Angel], but that may reflect my increased maturity since I read Stone Angel, rather than a better story.

In setting up the main character, an 80 yr old woman (Georgie) who spends the novel lying in a ravine after a car accident recalling the events and people in her life, the author does not really make her lovable. I felt little connection with her, and didn't really care if she was found or not. In fact, I found Georgie's thoughts to Queen Elizabeth rather pathetic. Her mother, aunt, sister, and especially grandmother, seemed more interesting characters.

If you're interested in reflecting on life and living as it comes to a close, then this book may have something to offer. But that's not where I am right now. ( )