Book Review: When Bone Melts

Reviewed by Frankie Martinez

A Russian-American family takes in an estranged daughter at their lakeside villa in this compelling historical drama.

After receiving a letter from his first family in Smolnek, Russia in 1893, a displaced prince, Petyr Ivanov Marinova, also lovingly called “Pim” by his sons, welcomes an auspicious guest to stay with his current family at their lakeside villa in Suna, Italy. 

Anastasia Marinova, the second daughter of Pim’s ex-wife, is both an object of admiration and aversion when she arrives. While Mary, Pim’s current wife, seems to despise Anastasia’s very existence, Pim’s sons, Pasquale, Enzo, and Luca, welcome her with open arms. As Anastasia becomes entangled in family affairs, not excluding an exceedingly close friendship with Pasquale, a string of cataclysmic events ensue, bringing the once vibrant and rich Marinova family estate to a staggering downfall. 

Told in four parts and with multiple perspectives from inside and outside the family, When Bone Melts is a sweeping historical drama centered around a father’s mistakes and the generations afterwards who try to pick up the pieces. The novel spans over seventy years of tense family dynamics and includes historical events such as World War I and World War II, painting a fascinating picture of a complicated, storied, sorrowful family. 

The novel shines in its first act as it depicts the Marinova family in its prime. Pasquale, Anastasia, Enzo, and Luca are at the center of the story, and their grand lifestyle—with Pasquale’s artistic endeavors, Enzo’s writing, and Luca’s leisure—is captivating. Harlow’s prose is reserved and poignant in little moments around the villa, even as small as when Pasquale cuts into a kiwi: “The iterative process keeps my hands busy as I stare over the lake. This morning, the low cloud cover gave the lake the illusion of extending forever into the abyss.”

Some parts of Anastasia’s characterization and her intentions are revealed late, which leaves the character work feeling a bit unbalanced. And yet, the story in this first part is still delicious to read, an emotional tale from which I couldn’t quite tear myself away. 

As the novel goes on with Luca’s fiancé, Franca Rossi, at its center, the Marinovas get sidelined somewhat. Franca’s family is very different from the Marinovas, and it provides a good contrast. Her romance with Luca is also very sweet. One of four daughters and a trained nurse, Franca has lived in Suna her whole life and watched the Marinovas from a less indulgent viewpoint. I enjoyed reading about her struggles with her family and infiltrating Mary’s more unwelcoming barriers, but sometimes the parts dedicated solely to her feel like a long aside until she moves into the Marinova villa.

By the end of the novel, the broken Marinovas are able to come back together in a different form, but family nonetheless. In many regards, it’s easy to think that When Bone Melts is about the long effects of single, terrible miscalculations, but ultimately, it is about the strange, sidewinding roads in which a family can lose itself, only to find forgiveness and unity at the end of it.  

Thank you for reading Frankie Martinez’s book review of When Bone Melts by Elise Keitz Harlow! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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