The Ocean and the Bones

This is a first novel by poet and former archaeologist Genevieve Carver. It is set in early Stone Age Britain sometime after Britain was separated from Europe by the flooding of Doggerland (creating the English Channel). Carver imagines how this event could have also created a small island in the Channel, and what might happen when one of its inhabitants is washed up on the British coast.

The half-drowned islander is a young girl called Kalø. She is discovered on the beach by a British girl called Little Meg of about the same age, who is our narrator. The adventure story that follows explore how the girls’ friendship develops, despite the hostility and suspicions of Little Meg’s people or ‘kinfolk’. They think Kalø is half-human, half-water spirit, and blame her for the bad weather they are having and the crop failure this brings. Steeped in her kinfolk’s traditions and beliefs, even Little Meg is unsure if her new friend is entirely human but slowly she comes to understand Kalø and her different traditions. When together they face a terrifying return across the ocean to Kalø’s island, their friendship gives them the strength to stand up to their enemies and enables Kalø to be finally accepted by Little Meg’s kinfolk.

Carver holds an MA in European Prehistory and is clearly deeply immersed in her subject. She has cleverly combined an adventure story with a lot of non-fiction learning about the Stone Age. This ranges from the more concrete knowledge of how they knapped flints or built boats to ideas about how their tribal communities and belief systems may have worked. She also sensitively explores modern themes of climate change and migration by considering how these things might have impacted on our Stone Age ancestors. The strength of her writing is that the story never becomes overburdened by these other intentions but is enriched by them. At times moving and literally poetic, Carver tells a great story with two strong and engaging characters at its heart.