Temperance Brennan
Temperance Daesee Brennan is a fictional character created by author Kathy Reichs, and is the hero of her crime novel series (which are usually referred to as the Temperance Brennan novels). She was introduced in Reichs' first novel, Déjà Dead, which was published in 1997. Like her creator, Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, who divides her time between work in North Carolina, and working in Montreal for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. In a number of novels it is indicated that Brennan's background lies in archaeology, rather than medicine, and throughout the novels she stresses the importance of correct crime scene processes.
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[edit] Character history
Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan is a forensic anthropologist, who investigates human remains at crime scenes where the flesh is too degraded for a coroner to obtain evidence (victims of arson, mutilation, advanced decomposition, etc.). Tempe is first introduced in Déjà Dead. She is a native of the Carolinas and one of only fifty board-certified forensic anthropologists in North America.
Before the first novel, Tempe left her husband, Pete, and overcame a lifelong struggle with alcoholism. She then accepted a job at the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale for the province of Quebec. She splits her time between teaching at the University of North Carolina and advising on crime scenes, and spends about half of the year in each country. She has a daughter, Katy, who is in college.
[edit] The Temperance Brennan novels
There are currently fourteen books in the series, with the latest, Flash and Bones, released in August 2011. Temperance Brennan also makes a cameo appearance in Jasper Fforde's 2007 novel First Among Sequels.
- Déjà Dead (1997)
- Death du Jour (1999)
- Deadly Decisions (2000)
- Fatal Voyage (2001)
- Grave Secrets (2002)
- Bare Bones (2003)
- Monday Mourning (2004)
- Cross Bones (2005)
- Break No Bones (2006)
- Bones to Ashes (2007)
- Devil Bones (2008)
- 206 Bones (2009)
- Spider Bones (2010) (Also published as Mortal Remains)
- Flash and Bones (2011)
[edit] Appearances in other media
The character shares the same name with the protagonist of the American television series, Bones, whose character was not based on Reichs' books or the Brennan of her books but rather on the author herself.[1] In the TV series, Temperance Brennan is played by Emily Deschanel. Reichs herself has stated that she sees the Tempe of the television series as a younger version of the novel Tempe. Reichs is an executive producer of the show, and oversees the forensic science aspect of the series. She also wrote the fifth season episode "The Witch in the Wardrobe," which shared some plot elements with her novel Devil Bones. On the show Temperance "Bones" Brennan writes crime novels with a fictional forensic anthropologist named Kathy Reichs as the protagonist.
Temperance Brennan also appears in the Jasper Fforde novel First Among Sequels.
[edit] References
- ^ Goldman, Eric, "Digging Up Secrets With the Cast of Bones", IGN, May 31, 2007. Retrieved on June 4, 2007.
