Drive Your Plow Over The Bones Of The Dead – Olga Tokarczuk

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Chosen by Jo

Janina lives alone in a desolate, snowy part of Poland near the Czech border. She studies astrology, over analyses everything and has a fiercely protective nature for the animals of the region. She becomes concerned when the police don’t seem to be properly investigating the suspicious deaths of her neighbours.

I find this division of people into three groups—skiers, allergy sufferers and drivers—very convincing. It is a good, straightforward typology. Skiers are hedonists. They are carried down the slopes. Whereas drivers prefer to take their fate in their hands, although their spines often suffer as a result; we all know life is hard. Whereas the allergy sufferers are always at war. I must surely be an allergy sufferer.

● While reading Drive Your Plow I felt the cold, I could see the setting and the characters became very real, quite quickly. It was darkly humorous in places with some great stand out funny scenes. I enjoyed the murder whodunnit story but did find myself becoming bored with all of the astrology detail. Overall, quite an enjoyable book. – Jo

● The aspect I enjoyed most about this novel was the construction of the main character Janina, a middle aged, eccentric woman. Janina makes hilarious observations about the people within her remote community, giving them funny nicknames that reflect their personalities. I enjoyed the style and pace of the book and thought the author was very creative in how she addressed the issues Poland has with women’s rights and animal protection. It’s a cleverly written novel that is well worth a read. – Jodie

● It concerns me that I increasingly feel a connection with these slightly weird and rebellious characters we’re coming across, but it is what it is. This novel felt almost dreamlike with the setting of heavy snow and I therefore felt a wee bit of a disconnect, but overall I loved the animal rights storyline and enjoyed being transported to this unsettling and strange Polish village. – Suzy

● I love an unreliable narrator and dark themes and this was rewarding with both. Janina is a well constructed character and I loved her nosiness, her misguided morals and her outspokenness. Shout out to the translator who has created excellent atmosphere and intrigue which we can only presume is reminiscent of the original book. This is a literary thriller that will find favour with many readers. – Rachel

Published in Polish 2009
Translated into English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones 2018
Fitzcarraldo Editions
288 pages