Clea Koff's The Bone Woman

Clea Koff's The Bone WomanClea Koff's The Bone WomanClea Koff's The Bone Woman

Clea Koff's The Bone Woman

Clea Koff's The Bone WomanClea Koff's The Bone WomanClea Koff's The Bone Woman
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The Bone Woman

The Bone WomanThe Bone WomanThe Bone Woman

"It may be that this is the ultimate memoir of the post-Cold War decade ... 

  a hugely important book."  -  The Telegraph, UK

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Photo: Lake Kivu, Rwanda © 1996 Clea Koff

The Bone Woman

The Bone WomanThe Bone WomanThe Bone Woman

"It may be that this is the ultimate memoir of the post-Cold War decade ... 

  a hugely important book."  -  The Telegraph, UK

Shop Now

Photo: Lake Kivu, Rwanda © 1996 Clea Koff

In the Spring of 1994, Rwanda was the scene of the first acts since World War II to be legally defined as genocide.


Two years later, Clea Koff, a twenty-three-year-old forensic anthropologist analyzing prehistoric skeletons in California, was one of sixteen scientists chosen by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal to go to Rwanda to unearth physical evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity.


The Bone Woman is Koff's riveting, intimate account of that mission and six subsequent missions she undertook to Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo on behalf of the UN.  It is, ultimately, a story filled with hope, humanity, and justice.


Published in 2004 by Random House in the United States, Hodder Headline in Australia, Atlantic in the United Kingdom,  Knopf in Canada, and in translation by 10  international publishers in nine languages between 2004 and 2007. 


In 2023, the audiobook of The Bone Woman was published in the United States by Dreamscape Media and Éditions Héloïse d'Ormesson re-published La Mémoire des os.

Random House cover of The Bone Woman showing three small bones, old-fashioned key and watch face.

New Releases of The Bone Woman

Dreamscape Media

Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson

Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson

Dreamscape Media's audiobook cover of The Bone Woman by Clea Koff
Listen on Audible

Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson

Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson

Éditions Héloïse d’Ormesson

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Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

Silent Evidence - Clea's new crime novel -out now from HarperCollins

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THE AUTHOR, CLEA KOFF

Clea Koff looking into distance with blurred yellow lamps behind her. Copyright David Ignaszewski

Author portrait: Copyright © David Ignaszewski

Learn more about Clea

PrAISE FOR THE BONE WOMAN

"Chilling but mesmerizing...Koff's account is neither histrionic nor preachy; it's clear-eyed, hard-headed and straightforward...This book works so well, is so vivid and so moving, because Koff surrounds the dead bodies with living stories." - Bookpage, US

"Though stalwartly non-academic, this book is a must-read for students of forensic science, political science, international law and other disciplines that study or directly contribute to human rights investigations."  -  Globe and Mail, Canada

"...The most impressive book about politics that I read this year, Clea Koff's The Bone Woman: Among the Dead in Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Moving from one mass grave to the next, she uncovers what really happened."  - Clive James in The Times Literary Supplement, UK

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International Awards, Commendations, and Honors

A BEST OF 2004

National Public Radio - Maureen Corrigan

TOP 20 SCIENCE BOOK OF 2004

Discover Magazine

EDITOR'S PICK

Foreign Policy Association

NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR 2004

Jenny Crwys-Williams, Radio 702, 9 December

A BEST OF 2004

Booktrust

A BOOK OF THE YEAR 2004

Andrea Levy in The Guardian

BEST ORIGINAL SUBJECT, NON-FICTION 2004

Black Issues Book Review

AN INTERNATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2004

Clive James in The Times Literary Supplement, 3 December

PRIX LIVRES ET DROITS DE L'HOMME 2005

De la Ville de Nancy, presented by Jorge Semprun

INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS OF THE BONE WOMAN

    Available at bookstores, libraries and online

    Including Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Amazon UK, Angus & Robertson (Australia), and independent booksellers.

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    Cropped cover of La Memoire des os by Clea Koff showing 2005 Nancy Human Rights Prize banner

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    Television & Radio Appearances

    Crop of Clea Koff being filmed for 'De Wandeling' with host and cameraman

    Television & Radio Appearances

    Television & Radio Appearances

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    Crop of photograph of Clea Koff signing books in Nancy, France surrounded by other authors and staff

    Invited Speaker

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    Publishers & Covers

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    Publishers & Covers

    Television & Radio Appearances

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    About the Author

    Clea's Crime Novels at cleakoff.com

    Clea's Crime Novels at cleakoff.com

    Clea's Crime Novels at cleakoff.com

    Clea's Crime Novels at cleakoff.com

    Clea's Crime Novels at cleakoff.com

    Copyright © 2025 Clea Koff - All Rights Reserved.

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