To the Bone BY Alena Bruzas

After a grueling journey across the Atlantic, Ellis arrives at James Fort, eager to embrace the promise of a new life in America. As an indentured servant to Henry Collins and his pregnant wife, she dreams of earning her freedom, securing her future, and falling in love with the spirited and daring Jane Eddowes. James Fort is supposed to be the place where her life truly begins.

But as the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to fall, Ellis starts to see the darker side of the settlement. The colonists' brutality toward the Indigenous people shocks her, and the cruelty of Henry Collins becomes impossible to ignore. His oppressive control over his wife and Ellis herself makes her question whether she has escaped one form of bondage only to enter another. The life she imagined starts to crumble, and Ellis realizes she may have condemned herself to a new kind of prison.

As winter sets in, the true horrors of life in the Fort are revealed. Food becomes scarce, and desperation takes hold. Ellis quickly learns that survival in the New World comes at a steep price, and the lengths people will go to stay alive are beyond anything she could have imagined.

"To the Bone" is a gripping and harrowing tale that challenges the romanticized vision of America’s colonial history. With its visceral storytelling and chilling atmosphere, this novel forces readers to confront the brutal realities of survival and the true cost of the American settler myth. This story will haunt you long after the final page is turned.