FISH, BLOOD AND BONE

Leslie Forbes

Three families across two centuries. A shared history of love and murder.And one woman’s passion for life and obsession with death. . .

Expatriate Claire Fleetwood is a forensic photographer adept at turning the bones of the dead into silvery, telling shadows. When she inherits an estate situated in London’s East End, Claire finally feels rooted. Then one morning a friend is murdered beyond the walls of her garden–a crime that unnerves her, intrigues her, and compels her to unravel not only the mysteries of the victim’s past but her own past as well. It’s a journey that takes Claire to the India of her forebears, to a hidden paradise between Bhutan and Tibet, and to a secret history that reverberates through time, through blood, through a lineage of forbidden pleasures and harrowing implications.

A sensuous and revealing thriller like no other, Fish, Blood and Boneis an intoxicating reflection on the consequences of the past, of unearthed skeletons and family sins, played out against the most exotic landscapes on earth—and the most unsettling corners of the imagination.

2001 Shortlist

2001 Longlist

Previous winners

The Women's Prize Podcast


Tune into host Vick Hope and a line-up of incredible guests on our weekly podcast full of unmissable book recommendations.