The following version of this novel was used in the creation of this study guide: Bracken, Alexandra. Silver in the Bone. Alfred A. Knopf. 2023. First Edition. Hardcover.

The novel starts with Hollowers Tamsin, Nash, and Cabell exploring a Vein; a cavern filled with curses that Cabell can dispel. While Tamsin does not have the One Vision to see magic herself, she is the one who tracked down the dagger Nash is looking for. When they find it, however, it is surrounded by dozens of bodies in ice. Still, Nash takes Tamsin, Cabell, and the dagger to Tintagel Castle with plans to trade it for an unknown treasure. However, Nash disappears that night, leaving Tamsin and Cabell alone.

Seven years later in Part I: “Two of Swords”, Tamsin works as a tarot card reader for money. There, she meets a mysterious girl named Neve, but Tamsin refuses to be her friend out of fear. Cabell, however, is more focused on the Hollower relic hunting business and is convinced they can make it big with one rare find. Tamsin disagrees with him and refuses to speak about Nash. However, things get worse between them with Tamsin learns that one of the biggest rivals, Emrys, is looking for the Ring of Dispel: an object capable of removing any curse. With Cabell plagued by a hound transformation when his emotions get too high, Tamsin is determined to find the ring and remove it. Cabell, however, refuses to hope and leaves her to search for it alone.

After outsmarting other Hollowers, including a man named Septimus, Tamsin returns to the ruins of Tintagel, certain that Nash went there to trade the dagger for the ring. However, she is beaten there by Emrys. Angry, Tamsin uses basilisk venom to give herself the One Vision, and Emrys demands she take him with her as repayment for stopping the fever the venom caused. She does so reluctantly and finds an old coin wrapped up in her childhood jacket. As Tamsin decides Nash must have gone to Avalon, Septimus brings in a captured Cabell. Neve arrives and uses magic to give Cabell a distraction to escape, revealing herself as a sorceress. The four decide to work together, but Septimus overhears their plans. Emrys pretends that the other three were chasing him and calls the Hag of the Mist who opens a path.

However, when the group steps through, they see a decaying world. As they travel further, they are attacked by undead monsters and most of the Hollowers are killed. Tamsin cripples Septimus when he tries to use her as a shield, and he is eaten as the other four escape. Neve uses an unknown spell to stop the creatures until a group of female knights arrive, revealing that the group is, in fact, in Avalon.

In Part Two: “The Wasteland,” the group follows the knights led by Caitriona to the last bastion of Avalon: the tower of the Nine built around the Mother tree. While the two sides do not initially get along due to Tamsin’s negativity and the general mistrust between them, they learn that Avalon was afflicted by a curse that brought death to paradise. Then, any bodies that were not burned were turned into monsters known as Children of the Night (or Children) that are now encroaching on the tower. Over time, Tamsin and Emrys learn that High Priestess Viviane was killed, but they could save some of her memories in a bone sculpture. Unfortunately, they are missing memories of the war between the priestesses, sorceresses, and druids, as a piece of the skull is missing.

Meanwhile, Cabell develops a close father-son relationship with Sir Bedivere, a Knight of King Arthur who promised to guard his sleeping body until he was ready to awaken. After the Children attack the tower and Cabell loses control of his transformation, Bedivere helps him calm down and promises Tamsin that he will teach Cabell to control his curse. So, when Tamsin learns Bedivere wants to retrieve the athame (a dagger) that will allow the Priestesses to perform a vital purification spell, she goes in his place, believing that Cabell needs Bedivere. This leads her to a revenant with the soul of Viviane that nearly kills Tamsin until Emrys saves her. The two share their romantic feelings that have been growing throughout the novel before meeting with Neve, Caitriona, and another priestess named Olwen who all destroy the revenant. They retrieve the dagger, but Emrys escapes with the Ring of Dispel, breaking Tamsin’s heart.

Then, the four women return to the Fort, only to find that everyone left behind has been massacred. Tamsin finds proof that Cabell died with them, but resolves to help the other three survivors. They all decide to try the ritual in hopes that it will save Avalon. Instead, the ritual drags Avalon back into the mortal realm.

Then, Tamsin learns that Cabell helped with the massacre, and that Bedivere is actually Lord Death in the body of King Arthur that no one but Viviane had ever seen. He reveals that the sorceresses shattered his soul after convincing him to betray the druids, then erected a barrier to keep anyone from entering Avalon from the mortal realm. Now that the ritual has been completed, Lord Death plans to enact his revenge. Cabell tells Tamsin that she can find her true self as well if she joins them, but Tamsin refuses and he leaves with Lord Death, despite her pleas for him to reconsider.

Tamsin, Caitriona, Olwen, and Neve return to Tamsin’s apartment and hope to stop Lord Death’s plans. Their fleeting rest is interrupted by Nash’s arrival who reveals that the Ring of Dispel was meant to break Tamsin’s curse, not Cabell’s.