The Bone People
by Keri Hulme
The Bone People by Keri Hulme holds a highly rated rating of 4.06 out of 5, based on 15.1K reader ratings. First published in 1984. The book spans 450 pages.
About The Bone People
The powerful, visionary, Booker Award–winning novel about the complicated relationships between three outcasts of mixed European and Maori heritage.
“This book is just amazingly, wondrously great.” —Alice WalkerIn a tower on the New Zealand sea lives Kerewin Holmes: part Maori, part European, asexual and aromantic, an artist estranged from her art, a woman in exile from her family. One night her solitude is disrupted by a visitor—a speechless, mercurial boy named Simon, who tries to steal from her and then repays her with his most precious possession. As Kerewin succumbs to Simon’s feral charm, she also falls under the spell of his Maori foster father Joe, who rescued the boy from a shipwreck and now treats him with an unsettling mixture of tenderness and brutality. Out of this unorthodox trinity Keri Hulme has created what is at once a mystery, a love story, and an ambitious exploration of the zone where indigenous and European New Zealand meet, clash, and sometimes merge.Winner of both a Booker Prize and Pegasus Prize for Literature, The Bone People is a work of unfettered wordplay and mesmerizing emotional complexity.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Author | Keri Hulme |
| Published | 1984 |
| Pages | 450 |
| Genres | Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy |
| Average Rating | 4.06 / 5.00 |
| Total Ratings | 15,110 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What genre is The Bone People?
The Bone People is categorized as Fiction, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy. Its primary genre classification is Fantasy.
Is The Bone People worth reading?
Based on 15.1K reader ratings, The Bone People has an average score of 4.06 out of 5.00, which is considered "Highly Rated."
How many pages is The Bone People?
The Bone People has 450 pages.
Who wrote The Bone People?
The Bone People was written by Keri Hulme. It was first published in 1984.
What is the ISBN for The Bone People?
The ISBN-13 for The Bone People is 9780140089230.0.
Data sourced from community book ratings and reviews. Last updated: April 15, 2026
