Drying the Bones

Susan Patrick is a librarian at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Although these stories fall into three thematically separate groups, the
collection is united by such common threads as childhood fears,
difficult relations between girls and their elders (particularly mothers
or mother figures), and mental instability. The first two groups of
stories comprise short, realistic chronicles of miserable lives. Written
in a colloquial style, the first group of stories deals with
dysfunctional families, child abuse, alcoholism, domestic violence,
illness and death of elderly parents, among other depressing topics. The
second-group stories, focusing on refugees in unidentified war-torn
country villages where rape and murder are rampant, are written in a
more formal style. Featuring elegant descriptive passages, unidentified
landscapes, and heavy doses of magic and anthropomorphism, the stories
in the third group resemble folk or fairy tales (albeit with a grim
twist). Sonik’s remarkable but disturbing stories may not appeal to
all readers.