That Bonesetter Woman: the new feelgood novel from the author of The Smallest Man (Paperback) - Frances Quinn

Pre-order UNSINKABLE, the astonishing new novel by Frances Quinn, coming February 2025.

'What a heroine Endurance Proudfoot is! I loved her from the start. An unconventional woman who takes us on a fascinating - if bumpy - ride through a man's world. I laughed, cried and most of all cheered! Can't stop thinking about it... an absolute cruncher of a tale' Janice Hallett, author of The Appeal

'A complete joy of a novel that, like it's wonderful protagonist's namesake, is a story of endurance against all odds. Full of heart and so eloquently written, THAT BONESETTER WOMAN had me cheering Durie on from start to finish - I absolutely loved it' Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora

It's usual, they say, for a young person coming to London for the first time to arrive with a head full of dreams. Well, Endurance Proudfoot did not. When she stepped off the coach from Sussex, on a warm and sticky afternoon in the summer of 1757, it never occurred to her that the city would be the place where she'd make her fortune; she was just very annoyed to be arriving there at all.

Meet Endurance Proudfoot: clumsy as a carthorse, strong as an ox, with a tactless tongue and a face she's sure only a mother could love. Durie wants one thing in life: to become a bonesetter like her father. It's physically demanding work, requiring nerves of steel, and he's adamant it's not a job for a woman.

Strong-willed and stubborn, Durie's certain that in bonesetting, her big, usually clumsy hands have found their natural calling. So when she's bundled off to London with her beautiful sister, she won't let it stop her realising her dream. As her sister finds fame on the stage, Durie becomes England's most celebrated bonesetter - but what goes up must come down, and her success may become her undoing.

Inspired by the true stories of two of Georgian England's most famous celebrities, That Bonesetter Woman is an uplifting tale about finding the courage to go your own way, when everyone says you can't - and about realising that what makes you different can also make you strong.

About the Author

Frances Quinn grew up in London and read English at King's College, Cambridge, realising too late that the course would require more than lying around reading novels for three years. After snatching a degree from the jaws of laziness, she became a journalist, writing for magazines including Prima, Good Housekeeping, She, Woman's Weekly and Ideal Home, and later branched out into copywriting, producing words for everything from Waitrose pizza packaging to the EasyJet in-flight brochure. In 2013, she won a place on the Curtis Brown Creative novel writing course, and started work on her first novel, The Smallest Man. That Bonesetter Woman is her second novel.She lives in Brighton, with her husband and two Tonkinese cats.