skin & bones

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.

• “A beautifully poetic meditation on race, history, and parenthood. Renee Watson is brilliantly unafraid, and the reward of that fearlessness is on these pages.”
  JACQUELINE WOODSON, National Book Award winner
• “A refreshing read, this lyrical story of love and loss is spiritually rejuvenating. Renee Watson’s writing is divine.”
  KWAME ALEXANDER, author of WHY FATHERS CRY AT NIGHT
• “A compelling portrait of personal struggles, self-love, and the journey of healing; an indelible testament to the power of family, friendship, and community; a touching love letter to and trenchant critique of one of the whitest cities in America. It’s a dexterous and evocative gift of a novel.”
  MITCHELL S. JACKSON, author of THE RESIDUE YEARS
• "A soulful novel that elegantly laces personal and cultural history through the eyes of a larger-than-life Black woman whose responsibilities to herself and those around her push and pull, shrink and expand. It's the kind of work that exposes matters of the heart with softness and guidance instead of melodrama and pedantry."
  MORGAN JERKINS, New York Times bestselling author of THIS WILL BE MY UNDOING
• “Evocative, beautifully written story of friendship, self-love, and community that has captured my heart and dug into my bones.”
  LATOYA WATKINS, author of HOLLER, CHILD, longlisted for National Book Award
• "Powerful story where each character shines with the divinity and humanity of Black love. An unforgettable reckoning that defies the boundaries and fears that attempt to constrict Black women's bodies and lives. Wise, real, and wondrous, Watson's genius carries our history––past, present, and future––with formidable grace and courage."
  RACHEL ELIZA GRIFFITHS, author of PROMISE
• “Complex, wrenching exploration of fatness, identity, and generational trauma. Lena's journey is at once a love letter to and an indictment of Portland–and America’s–past and present. Renee Watson's novel belongs here, and everywhere it chooses to go.”
  AUBREY GORDON, author of YOU JUST NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT
• “Lyrical and poetic…For anyone intrigued by stories that highlight experiences with race, gender, self-love, family and friendship, skin & bones will resonate in more ways than one.”
  Chika Gujarathi, BOOKPAGE