The Bone People
New Zealand novelist, 1947–2021. Won the Booker Prize in 1985.
The Bone People is a 1984 novel by Keri Hulme. It won the Booker Prize in 1985.
In family saga
On 2 of the 17 lists it was eligible for.
The Novel Index earns a small commission if you buy through our links, at no extra cost to you. It never affects our rankings. More about how we earn.
At a glance
- Author
- Keri Hulme
- First published
- 1984
- Length
- 546 pages (UK paperback)
- Awards
- Booker Prize winner, 1985
- Genre
- Literary fiction, Empire and colonialism, Family saga, Psychological
Is The Bone People worth reading?
2 of the 17 best-of lists it could have made include it: the Booker Prize and The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency).
| List | Place | Original |
|---|---|---|
| Booker Prize (winners and shortlists) (Booker Prize Foundation, 1985) | Winner | See the list |
| The Big Jubilee Read (BBC Arts and The Reading Agency, 2022) | Listed | See the list |
Best edition of The Bone People
The edition we link to is the Picador paperback (2001), 546 pages.
- Publisher
- Picador (paperback, 2001)
- Pages
- 546
- ISBN
- 9780330485418
How critics, prizes and readers rate The Bone People
Prize juries rate it most highly: it earned 100% of the points available on prize lists, against 13% on readers' and booksellers' lists and 0% on critics' lists.
Share of the available points it earned on each kind of list it was eligible for. How the scores work
Books like The Bone People
If you liked The Bone People, try Little Fires Everywhere.
