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Crime

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

3.8(35)
Hardcover€28.00Paperback€12.50E-Book
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About the book

WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE

New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century

"A brilliant literary murder mystery." —Chicago Tribune

"Extraordinary. Tokarczuk's novel is funny, vivid, dangerous, and disturbing, and it raises some fierce questions about human behavior. My sincere admiration for her brilliant work." —Annie Proulx

In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind . . .

A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Editions (5)

ISBN9780525541349
PublisherPenguin LLC US
Publication Date08/11/20
Pages288

Reviews & Ratings

35 ratings

5 reviews

3.8

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  • viviennoelle
    viviennoelle

    12 Followers

    3.0

    Not really my type of book as I'm not a fan of Astrology. But the idea and message were built in well

    Mar 16, 2026

  • swissyphus
    swissyphus

    9 Followers

    4.0

    Ich mochte die Protagonistin (Antagonistin?), auch wenn sie mir zeitweise gehörig auf den Zeiger ging. Bin ihr selbst in unseren Gegensätzen immernoch zu ähnlich, also bleibt mir nichts anderes übrig! Die liebenswerten, schrulligen Nebencharaktere haben mir aufs Äusserste gefallen. Das grösste Manko allerdings ist, wie plötzlich Lebenskapitel aus dem Himmel gepflückt werden, um der Geschichte voranzuhelfen. Wie du warst plötzlich Lehrerin, Olympia-Siegerin, watnoch alles. Wie dem auch sei, Bücher über moralisch graue Waldfrauen sind mir immernoch die liebsten.

    Sep 20, 2025

3 of 5 reviews

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