We finally find out what happened to Louise. A beautiful conclusion to this series. A real insight into the early days of South Africa. The hardships that the first settlers faced and how they coped.

A fitting conclusion to the Joubert series it continues to develop the theme of strong women fighting adversity and gives an interesting and well researched insight into life in South Africa

This title brings the Joubert family chronicle to an emotional conclusion. Another strong addition to this series shows how the Kate Mosse is able to paint a story with words and keep the reader enthralled throughout the story. Many writers attempt to tell stories that span generations with varying degrees of success, but Ms. Mosse shows others how it should be done.
Having read the others in the series ( and pretty much everything else she has written), I was sad for this female led tale to reach an end, however the levels of excitement and interest did not disappoint. For most benefit, read the books chronologically, however this is still a great story in its own right.
Thank you to the publisher for this digital review copy.

A bittersweet tale, a mix of kindness and brutality, over the centuries. I was mesmerised by this startling adventure. An amazing quest for the truth, by strong women, who put family first. I couldn't put it down.

The Map of Bones by Kate Mosse
I have treasured this series about the Joubert Family and enjoyed every step of their journey from France to Amsterdam, chasing pirates across the ocean and finally ending up in Africa. I adored the story of Louise Joubert in the novel Ghost Ship and was delighted to be able to discover what happened to her after we left her at the end of the last novel. Each book has treated us to the story of strong, independent women and this final book is no exception.
This story opens with the awful events which cause Suzanne and her grandmother to flee their home and set off for South Africa. When Suzanne arrives it is obvious she has something else on her mind apart from settling in Africa - she is on a quest to find out what happened to her ancestor Louise Joubert after she landed in Africa.
Despite the harsh conditions, and the unwillingness of men to assist her, Suzanne pursues her quest and her story is one of courage and persistence. The book is extremely well researched as with all of Kate Mosse’s previous novels and it was a pleasure to immerse myself in the life of the Joubert Family. There is also a section of the story which takes the family story forward to the 1870’s when another member of the family tries to fill in any gaps in the story which Suzanne uncovered.
The book is a real page turner and I almost wanted to slow down so that I didn’t finish the book too quickly. I was pleased to discover what happened to Louise Joubert but sad that this wonderful series is at an end. I look forward to where Kate Mosse will take her readers for their next adventure. I will be recommending the book to all of my book groups and would like to thank the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the book in return for an honest review.

Typical Kate Mosse although maybe not as good as The Labyrinth series. Interesting to discover how the Dutch and the French Huguenots colonised South Africa and the tensions with the English and with the native tribes. Our heroine travels through the country trying to discover what happened to the female ship’s captain who had been dropped off at the port and then sent the ship back to Europe. Easy read but quite forgettable

This is the final installment of the women of the Joubert family. The author brilliantly portrays the lives of these extraordinary women in such a way that, even in fiction, makes them feel real. A wonderful conclusion to the adventurous and often dangerous lives lead by women long long ago.

I’ve been following the Joubert Family Chronicles from the start and I’m happy to say Kate Mosse wraps it up beautifully. The Map of Bones follows two more women of the family - Suzanne as she travels to South Africa in 1688 to discover what happened to her ancestor, Louise Reydon Joubert, and finally Isabelle Lepard who makes the same journey in the 1800s to fill in the blanks of the family history. This is a hugely enjoyable book, full of good characters and a well paced story.

The whole series has been a wonderful collection of female characters throughout Huguenot history, the very people who are often left out of the history books. Each one has been fascinating in their own right and The Map of Bones continues that with Suzanne and Isabelle. None of them have been written to appear more modern, just as strong women still operating in the confines and belief systems of the time, and that helps make them more believable.

Kate Mosse is also wonderful at a sense of place. France, the Netherlands and life at sea have all been well represented in the past and the same is true here of South Africa. It’s easy to feel the heat and imagine the landscape and hardships faced by these new arrivals.

This book could be read alone but will certainly be better enjoyed as part of the series so for anyone coming to it afresh, I thoroughly recommend that you go back to the start and enjoy all four books of the series in turn.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

This was my first delve into one of the Joubert Family Chronicles so it took me a while to determine who was who and where the history was all coming from! However, I was soon able to become acquainted with Suzanne, Louise and finally Isabella! I found the history behind the story fascinating and loved the way the author was able to weave this family’s history into the history of South Africa itself! Suzanne Joubert sails into 17th century Cape Town with her grandmother Florence hoping to discover what happened to her ancestor Louise who had lived and died many years before she was born. - a fascinating character who had owned a trading ship called the Old moon with her friend Gilles Barenton. Together they had sailed into Table Bay during the latter part of 1621 with her half brother Phillips Vidal also on board but were then never heard of again. Suzanne is determined to follow in her ancestors footsteps and meets with many an adventure along the way. I felt the story lost it’s way a little towards its conclusion but enjoyed the journey across the wild, untamed South African countryside.

I have loved this series following the lives of the women in the Joubert family which moves from France to Holland and finally to South Africa and London.
In the last book the reader was treated to the swashbuckling tale of Louise Reydon Joubert, a captain of a pirate ship, attacking slave traders but it was not clear what happened to her at the end thus leading on to this current book.
In “The Map of Bones” we discover her life after landing in South Africa with her partner Gilles. Spanning hundreds of years this book focuses on Suzanne Joubert who traces her ancestor’s life in the Cape and tries to discover what happened to Louise. 80 years after her disappearance. It is 1687 and Suzanne and her grandmother flee to Holland after a terrible attack on them in France, perpetrated due to their Huguenot beliefs.
From Holland they sail to South Africa and Suzanne searches for references to Louise who made the same journey many years earlier.
The book also features a section set in the 1870s when Isabelle, another Joubert descendant, seeks to fill in the gaps in Suzanne’s knowledge, written down in her notebooks.
There is adventure, romance and much excitement in this extraordinarily well researched book. It was so interesting to read about life in South Africa when the first settlers arrived.
I loved the strong and brave female characters Louise, Suzanne and Isabelle, all women ahead of their own times. They are living the lives they want to live despite being in dangerous situations and in Suzanne’s case being persecuted for religious reasons.
Kate Mosse certainly knows how to tell a story which is both gripping and entertaining. It is a real page turner and I raced through it, determined to find out what happened to all the main protagonists.
I am only sad that this is to be the last book in the Joubert Chronicles but am hopeful that Kate Mosse will produce another wonderful series in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

"The Map of Bones" is the final novel in the Joubert Family Chronicles which started with "The Burning Chambers" and it ties up any loose ends in the saga. This book features 3 strong women in the family; Suzanne, Florence (her grandmother) and Isabelle. This time the main action is in the 1680's and the 1860's, and is mostly set in South Africa. Louis XIV has hounded most of the Huguenots out of France and this time our heroines flee to the newly established Cape Colony, which is controlled by the Dutch.

As well as the emigres some of the indigenous people feature in the story; like the Whites, some are good and others bad. Almost without exception the women are strong characters, fighting the restrictions imposed by men. The story-line is wonderful and far-ranging, and the book is a fitting finale to the saga.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this highly recommended book.

Although the fourth in a series about the Joubert family this book can be read as a stand alone, especially for anyone interested in the history of South Africa. The story, told in two time lines begins in 1688 when Suzanne Joubert, a Huguenot refugee from war-torn France, arrives in the Dutch territory of Cape Town, searching for her family history. Then in 1862, Isabelle, one of Suzanne's descendants makes the same journey seeking more answers to the origins of their family.
For me the most interesting aspects of the book were the historical details of setting up of the colony, day to day life and the relationship the Dutch and then the English had with those who had lived there before. The brutality and difficulties of daily life are well described and brought to life as Suzanne and then Isabelle leave the settlement and head into the interior of the country to discover what befell their ancestors.
The book refers to earlier events but with enough information for it not to matter if the previous novels have not been read. I found it was totally absorbed with Suzanne's story and somewhat disappointed when it switched to Isabelle's - I wasn't so invested in her mission - and for that reason I only gave the book four stars rather than five.
I loved the gusty female characters and the details of early life in the colony, and having been several times to Cape Town and the surrounds I could imagine much of what the author was describing. I may well, at some point, try and catch up on the earlier novels.
With thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an early copy in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and PanMacmillan for the arc.

3.5 stars rounded up.
This is the final volume of the Joubert Family Chronicles, but it can be read as a standalone novel (I haven’t read any of the three previous volumes and didn’t feel the reading experience was adversely affected by not having any background to the story). It’s difficult to give much of a summary of the story without giving massive spoilers, but in a nutshell it covers the life of Suzanne, a French Huguenot refugee, as she escapes persecution and tries to recover from trauma by starting a new life in South Africa, tracing part of her family history in the process.
Mosse is an expert storyteller, and on the whole I did enjoy this story, but for me it felt like there was too much reliance on neatly tying up different strands of the multiple story timelines and far too much filler text - large chunks of the narrative just revolving around the main characters hanging around waiting for things to happen. If you like descriptive historical fiction then you will probably really enjoy this story, but I prefer novels where the plot moves along more quickly.

I decided to give Kate Mosse another chance after failing to engage with her second book in this trilogy. Whilst I enjoyed the first half I was bored by the second half as it seemed to go over old ground. Sorry but I don’t think this writer is for me.

The Map of Bones is a very satisfying final book in the Joubert Family Chronicles. Throughout the series Kate Mosse has created a family of strong women writing their own history in diary form. I really appreciated the ending of the series being the fictional publication of The Joubert Family Chronicles in 1872 by Macmillan publishers. This fourth novel in the series mostly concerns the stories of Suzanne in the late 17th century and Isabelle in the mid 19th century, both descendants of Minou from the first book in the series. Suzanne and Isabelle both set off on round the world boat journeys to South Africa to seek out what happened to their ancestor Louise, sea captain and commander of The Old Moon. In both cases though nearly 200 years apart, the women face misogyny and encounter life threatening dangers, human, animal and natural. They are also brought face to face with racism in the land taken from the local Khoi people by successive imperial powers. As in the previous books in the series the characters here are really well developed and stories are all followed through. The description of landscapes, architecture , climate, plants and animals are thoroughly realised as is daily life for the newly arrived white settlers and refugees in Cape Town. I highly recommend the complete saga but feel sure that if anyone reads The Map of Bones as a stand alone novel they will wish to return to the previous three books. I now look forward (having also really enjoyed the Languedoc trilogy) to l be Kate Mosse's next historical series. My thanks to Pan Macmillan via Net Galley for an ARC of this title.

Sadly the last book in the Joubert family saga that takes the story to South Africa where we finally find out what happened to Suzanne Joubert. Although a great stand alone I would certainly recommend reading The Burning Chamber’s, The City of Tears and The Ghost Ship first. Great historical novels spanning several countries and years and refreshingly filled with strong women living life on their own terms.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this ARC

Having read the third and this last episode of the Joubert saga back to back I was fully immersed in the story-until the last third. I enjoyed the continuation of the story,I appreciated the way that previous characters were explained which enables the book to be read as a stand alone novel and as throughout the four books the descriptions of the places ( this time in South Africa ) were a joy to read. However I thought that ,the final section about Isabelle was repetitive in plot and was used simply as a tool to bring all previous strands together. In my opinion I would have finished with Suzanne. I did also feel at times that there was too much insistence on the importance of women being heard and writing their story ( which I wholeheartedly agree with but it seemed quite laboured at times)
Overall an enjoyable novel and I’m grateful for the opportunity to review it.

The more one reads literary books based on history, the more one wants to see nuances.
Mosse amazes me with her meticulous world-building that transports you into the past, and her curious prose.
The transitions between the timelines is smoothly done, and the prose is 4.5.

This is the latest novel in Kate Mosse’s stories about a French Huguenot family's struggle for freedom from persecution, opening in 1688. It takes the reader from La Rochelle to Amsterdam and Cape Colony, South Africa. This is a quest. Suzanne, descendent of Minou from the initial novel, has a mission to discover what happened to her relative Louise. Louise disappeared into South Africa’s interior half a century before. Suzanne, this novel’s protagonist has possession of a diary scribed by Louise and an intriguing tarot card.

The novel is a wonderful collection of vivid scenes linked by a great adventure undertaken by a courageous determined personality. I was as a consequence utterly transported by the characters and their narrative; this is as well as Mosse’s evocative, beautiful writing. The characters represent nobility , strength and determination to survive as immigrants in an alien landscape. They withstand the machinations of dangerous characters such as the brutal Lars Elthrop, ruthless Pieter Odendaal and cruel Kmane. Will Suzanne realise her quest ? Against all odds this is a thrilling journey with many surprises and much jeopardy along the way.

The pace is relentless. The atmosphere is evocative- noisy waterfronts , the castle, the interior, the flora and fauna and weather. There are gentle and brutal contrasts. Always we are reminded of a resourceful people fleeing persecution, not easily accepted in the Dutch colony. We encounter superstition, formidable mountain passes with dangerous shadowy valleys. History and politics inform this novel but are worn lightly and subtly integrated into the narrative. The Map of Bones is a meaningful and apt title. It is my favourite of these books. Page turning and completely original.

This is the last book in the Joubert family chronicles and takes the continuing story to Southern Africa. First Suzanne Joubert arrives after a perilous journey in 1688, determined to find out what happened when her ancestor, the sea captain and pirate Louise Reydon Joubert, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope eighty years earlier and promptly disappeared . Then 180 years later Isabelle Lepard is equally determined to find the story of the intrepid women she is descended from. This fantastic saga is underpinned as always by immaculate research creating an absorbing story that transports the reader to Southern Africa centuries ago.