drive your bones over the plow of the dead

Janina likes Boros and allows him to move in with her. He is researching endangered beetles and hopes to convince the Polish government to protect them from extinction. An entomologist named Borys–spelled 'Boros' by Janina–comes to the village. Residents are convinced he ran away with his lover. The village's wealthy fur farmer and brothel owner, Innerd, goes missing. Janina tells them that she values both equally. One officer accuses Janina of seemingly valuing the life of animals more than that of humans. Janina is questioned by police as a witness to the crime scene. The Commandant's death emboldens Janina's beliefs, but her friends Dizzy and Oddball are sceptical of her. The police commandant–called the Commandant by Janina–is also a hunter and is later found dead beside his car by Dizzy. She writes to the local police, who ignore her theory.

She begins to believe that animals could have killed Big Foot out of vengeance. Janina disliked Big Foot because she disagrees with hunting animals. Janina also finds a shocking photograph in Big Foot's house, the contents of which are revealed in the penultimate chapter. From Janina and Oddball's inspection of the scene, it seems Big Foot choked on a bone while eating. One day, her neighbour Big Foot, a frequent hunter, is found dead in his home by Janina's friend Oddball. She had two dogs as pets but they both went missing. Janina spends most of her time studying astrology and translating the poetry of William Blake into Polish with her friend Dizzy.

Janina Duszejko is an ageing woman who lives in a rural Polish village, located near the Czech border in the Silesia region, in between Lewin and Kłodzko. In 2020, it was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Tokarczuk was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature two months after the novel's US release. Antonia Lloyd-Jones' translation was also longlisted for the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature. The novel was shortlisted for the 2019 International Booker Prize. A portion of the English translation was originally published in literary magazine Granta in 2017. The book received a wider release in 2019 when it was published in the United States by Riverhead Books on 13 August 2019. Originally published in Polish by Wydawnictwo Literackie, it was later translated to English by Antonia Lloyd-Jones and published in 2018 by the British independent publisher Fitzcarraldo Editions. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead ( Polish: Prowadź swój pług przez kości umarłych) is a 2009 mystery novel by Olga Tokarczuk.

Drive your bones over the plow of the dead