The Bone Dragon tells the story of fourteen year old Evie, who has finally told her adoptive parents about her shattered ribs – a remnant from her past. After surgery, Evie takes home a fragment of bone and starts carving into it a dragon, which comes alive at night and offers wisdom, strength and something more dangerous… The story is written in a first person present tense narrative, providing readers with unreliable, emotionally charged information. Subtle references and juxtapositions, masterfully woven into the narrative, eventually reveal the incredible darkness of the human mind. The  intricacy of the novel makes it nearly impossible to tell where reality ends and fairytale begins.

As an editor who regularly works on large international projects involving translation, Alexia appreciates that translation is an art. For the Chronicles project, author and translator joined forces to discuss and reflect on the difficulties in writing and translating the novel.

The Bone Dragon was published in English on 2 May 2013 by Faber & Faber. Alexia is represented by Claire Wilson of Rogers, Coleridge & White, who can be reached at Lexie@rcwlitagency.com or through www.rcwlitagency.com. The Bone Dragon has been translated into German by Henning Ahrend under the title Die Nacht Gehört dem Drachen.

The Bone Dragon is currently shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize and longlisted for the Branford Boase Award. In 2013, it was a Book of the Year for the Financial Times and Independent.