skin & bones

a novel

By: Renée Watson

Narrated by: Zenzi Williams

From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author comes a soulful and lyrical novel exploring sisterhood, motherhood, faith, love, and ultimately what gets passed down from one generation to the next

At 40, Lena Baker is at a steady and stable moment in life—between wine nights with her two best friends and her wedding just weeks away, she’s happy in love and in friendship until a confession on her wedding day shifts her world.

Unmoored and grieving a major loss, Lena finds herself trying to teach her daughter self-love while struggling to do so herself. Lena questions everything she’s learned about dating, friendship, and motherhood, and through it all, she works tirelessly to bring the oft-forgotten Black history of Oregon to the masses, sidestepping her well-meaning co-workers that don’t understand that their good intentions are often offensive and hurtful.

Through Watson’s poetic voice, skin & bones is a stirring exploration of who society makes space for and is ultimately a story of heartbreak and healing.

Stop and think

I found this story very contemplative. It made me think of my life and unconscious biases.

Reclaiming My Time

This is a great book about the challenges facing a highly educated Black fat woman with career success, a committed fiancé and a loving family. With a series of upsets in her life, she has to look deep within to see her own truth. What’s superficial? What’s real? What’s love? She says she’s fat-positive, but is she? She interacts with a lot of “woke” white folks at work, but micro-aggressions come with that territory. How should she handle them? She wants to model different successful types of family and friend relationships to her daughter. How, when the child’s birth father (who’s not the fiancé) suddenly wants more access to the child, but lacks boundaries? How does she meaningfully relate to her parents/family as an adult? So many questions. This book is really thoughtful. I enjoyed reading it.

I became one with the story

I love the way the author embodied the life of a full figured woman. It shows how women are first judged by their appearances and how it’s assumed that plus size women are unhealthy and uncomfortable in their on bodies. This book is a must read for our BBWs of the world. It empathizes our struggles and how we overcome. I truly love this book!

Amazing and Inspiring! Just a beautiful story all around

Amazing and Inspiring! Just a beautiful story all around. I enjoyed every bit of this book

Loved the confidence she has

This book was an eye opener for me in a way I never knew I needed. I love Lena’s confidence and that she had an amazing friendship with her girlfriends.