Fire, Bed, and Bone

Fire, Bed, and Bone is a historical novel by Henrietta Branford, published on April 1, 1998 by Candlewick Press and aimed at older readers. Fire, Bed, and Bone won the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1998 and the Kliatt Editors' Choice and Voice of Youth Advocates Non Fiction Honor List.

The story is narrated by a nameless hunting dog, as witness to the English peasants' revolt of 1381. She does her best to survive while trying to raise her own puppy Fleabane after the others were brutally mauled to death by a wild cat, tracking her captive owners Rufus and Comfort as they are tried for heresy. Branford's martianist technique (see Craig Raine) creates a more primal narrative voice in contrast with the suspected response of the reader, but themes including matriarchal affection and honour unite man and dog.