The Bone Houses

Cover for The Bone Houses
In medieval Wales, a thoughtful mapmaker with chronic pain meets a gravedigger whose village is threatened by the living dead.

The Bone Houses

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead.

The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an apprentice mapmaker with a mysterious past, arrives in town, the bone houses attack with new ferocity. What is it that draws them near? And more importantly, how can they be stopped for good?

Together, Ellis and Ryn embark on a journey that will take them into the heart of the mountains, where they will have to face both the curse and the deeply-buried truths about themselves. Equal parts classic horror novel and original fairytale, The Bone Houses will have you spellbound from the very first page.

Practical information

Author: Emily Lloyd-Jones
Publisher: Hachette (Little, Brown)
Publication year: 2019
ISBN: 9780316418416
Age category: young adult
Disability portrayed: chronic pain
Genres: fantasy, historical, horror

Accessible formats


audiobook available

Author

Emily Lloyd-Jones

Emily Lloyd-Jones grew up on a vineyard in rural Oregon, where she played in evergreen forests and learned to fear sheep. She has a BA in English from Western Oregon University and a MA in publishing from Rosemont College. Her novels include Illusive, Deceptive, The Hearts We Sold, and The Bone Houses.

It probably sounds a little strange to say I put a lot of myself into a novel about zombies and magical curses. But if you look closely, you’ll find my grandmother’s prickly wit in the heroine’s dialogue, my grandfather’s Welsh heritage in the world-building, and my own experiences with chronic pain in the hero’s experiences. I wanted to explore how losing a loved one affects us all. And how we move on from that.
(B&N Teen Blog, September 2019)