49 pages • 1 hour read
Bookshops & Bonedust
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Themes
Books as a Means of Self-Discovery
In the novel, books act as a catalyst to form community. When Viv ventures beyond The Perch, the first place she enters is Thistleburr Bookshop. Fern is central to Viv’s story, and her bookshop is central to the community that they build. Thistleburr becomes a gathering place and hangout spot. Viv’s friends and team bond and get to know one another in the bookshop.
Fern never loses sight of her bookshop’s primary purpose. She is a skilled bookseller who, throughout the novel, rediscovers the pleasure she gets from putting the right book into a customer’s hands. With her recommendations to Viv, Gallina, and Pitts, Fern rediscovers how much she loves her work. With her recommendations, books become a means of self-discovery for the other characters, who see themselves differently after they embrace reading.
When Viv arrives in Murk, she isn’t much of a reader. An astute judge of character with a passion for literature, Fern recommends books for Viv that lead her toward a love of reading and help her understand her own identity. Fern’s first recommendation taps into Viv’s love of adventure. After, Fern gives her a book that helps Viv connect with her romantic nature. Fern, in offering recommendations, considers who Viv is, but also who she might be, her untapped potential. Because of Fern’s recommendations, Viv begins thinking differently about herself, finding joy in using her mind with the same intensity with which she uses her body in battle. The romance book that Fern recommends also opens Viv up to connecting romantically with Maylee. As Viv grows as a character, she recognizes herself—not just as a warrior, but as an individual with intellect and deep emotion. Through books, Fern puts Viv in touch with a side of herself that she hasn’t ever acknowledged.
Viv is not the only one who benefits from Fern’s recommendations. Pitts also discovers new aspects of himself through books. When Fern forces him to take a book from her shop as a thank you, he takes a book of poetry. Later, Pitts tells Viv: “Sometimes I just read one page and think about it. Kind of turn it over in my head like a stone and look at it from all sides” (80). Like Viv, Pitts is an orc. He is often judged by his appearance and deemed fit only fit for physical labor. Through books, he embraces his artistic side, and, at the end of the novel he is composing his own poetry. As with Viv, Fern helps Pitts to discover a side of himself that he might never have uncovered.
Belonging with Found Family
When Viv is with Rackam’s Ravens, she feels like she has found where she belongs. Although the Ravens are bound together by their work, there is also an element of family. For Viv, Rackam is “obviously a fighter, but he’s also like this uncle” (99). Rackam demonstrates this when he saves Viv’s life in the Prologue and tells her that he had tried to protect her by keeping her at the back of the battle.
When Viv is forced to stay behind in Murk, she feels lost without her team. She also feels deeply dislocated without her mercenary identity. Viv reflects that “she would’ve traded [the comforts of The Perch] for a blanket on the cold ground where she really belonged” (31). Viv had found belonging with Rackam’s Ravens only to lose it.
However, during her time in Murk, Viv builds a community, finding a newfound family that loves and respects her for more than her skills in battle. As Fern tells her: “I know that’s what you’re used to […] but you don’t have to use your hands to matter” (148). With her discovery of reading and relationship with Maylee, Viv unveils different aspects of herself, traits that her new friends value above her battle skills. In Murk, Viv again finds belonging and builds a family for herself. In this case, her new friends’ acceptance and admiration are due to her honesty, creativity, intelligence, and compassion.
Although Viv chooses to move on from Murk at the end of the novel, she takes with her a new understanding of herself. She has developed a sense of identity that encompasses her physical, mental, and emotional facets. These characteristics blossomed because of the safety Viv felt in Murk and the unconditional belonging she found among her friends. Her sense of belonging remains even as she begins to prepare to leave. This plants the seeds for Viv to open her own coffeeshop when she retires and creates a community modeled on the acceptance and belonging she found in Murk.
Perspective Shifts Prompted by Supportive Relationships
Viv experiences a change in viewpoint that allows her to move forward. At the beginning of the novel, Viv is in the midst of battle, “grinn[ing] savagely, baring her fangs and forging ahead with massive strides” (1). Although young, she has already achieved membership in Rackam’s Ravens—a distinction that is clear from Gallina’s reaction. Because Viv is an orc, large, strong, and fanged, people assume that she is dangerous and valuable only for her physical prowess.
However, people see Viv differently when she arrives in Murk. Due to Viv’s injury, Brand makes a joke, surprising her: “Don’t think you could outrun me, could you?” (9). Although impressed by Viv’s size, Fern reacts the same way. In addition, Viv can’t train or do anything very physical, so her normal daily life breaks down. In the absence of her identity as a mercenary, other areas of Viv’s character begin to develop. She discovers reading, has a romantic relationship, and builds a community of friends that feels more like family. Viv’s injury changes the way people see her and allows for someone like Fern, a small rattkin who otherwise might be intimidated by Viv, to see past Viv’s appearance and recognize other aspects of her identity. Because of this, Viv herself experiences a perspective shift—how people in Murk see her affects the way she sees herself.
Fern is also able to move forward, something that has been difficult since her father’s death. Fern’s shift in perspective is catalyzed by Viv’s objectivity as a new customer. When Viv offers advice about changing the shop, Fern responds: “I don’t understand why I didn’t see any of this before” (73). After her father’s death, Fern was overwhelmed at being alone and became accustomed to the way things were. She couldn’t see the reality of how she and her shop were stuck in the past.
Viv helps Fern shift her thoughts. Fern worries that “[m]aybe […] I never wanted it to work out in the first place” (73). Viv responds: “[M]aybe you just needed to be back-to-back with someone. […] To reframe it” (73). The reframing that Viv speaks of is a perspective shift. She offers the support necessary to help Fern effect the changes that she now sees are necessary. Fern’s perspective on her work also shifts—her process of moving forward involves rediscovering her love of selling books. Her ability to move forward begins with Viv’s outside perspective, which highlights how she and her store have been trapped in the past. Fern opens herself and her bookstore up to a fresh perspective and rediscovers what she loves about her work.
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