Following the death of her lifelong friend, professor Mimi Zilber sets off on a journey to discover how she came to this lonely place in her life, and why she is running from the opportunity to love. The Bone Weaver is a blend of history and fiction created around three generations of women - beginning with Mimi's great-grandmother Malka - and their struggles to survive pogroms, illness, and the violence of shtetl life in 19th Century Eastern Europe. By taking apart the family tapestry thread by thread, and then studying these women and their daily lives of uncertainty, tragedy, and joy, Mimi learns important lessons about courage and the will to survive. And in her discovery of what makes these women remarkable, she also discovers herself.