Other Birds

 

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Fiction

2022 St. Martin's Press

Finished on April 8, 2023

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

From the acclaimed author of Garden Spells comes an enchanting tale of lost souls, lonely strangers, secrets that shape us, and how the right flock can guide you home. 

Down a narrow alley in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina, lies a stunning cobblestone building comprised of five apartments. It's called the Dellawisp and it is named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside the human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.

When Zoey Hennessey comes to claim her deceased mother's apartment at the Dellawisp, she meets her quirky, enigmatic neighbors, including a girl on the run, a grieving chef whose comfort food does not comfort him, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn't yet written.

When one of her new neighbors dies under odd circumstances the night Zoey arrives, she is thrust into the mystery of the Dellawisp, which involves missing pages from a legendary writer whose work might be hidden there. She soon discovers that many unfinished stories permeate the place, and the people around her are in as much need of healing from wrongs of the past as she is. To find their way they have to learn how to trust one another, confront their deepest fears, and let go of what haunts them.

Delightful and atmospheric, Other Birds is filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won't let you go. Sarah Addison Allen shows us that between real and imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.

I'm not an ardent fan of magical realism, so despite the rave reviews I'd read, I hesitated to borrow this book when I saw it at the library. I read and enjoyed Garden Spells in 2008, but didn't care for Lost Lake, which I read almost a decade later. I was pleasantly surprised by this story and the motley cast of characters, but I easily solved a few of the "mysteries." 

Other Birds is a story about family; those into which we are born and those we create. It's a story of grief and letting go of the past, and it's a story about broken souls and mending hearts. I was entertained and enjoyed the interactions between characters (and especially savored the references to Mac's cooking), but I doubt the novel will stay with me in the coming months. A good beach read.

Lost Lake

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
Fiction
2015 St. Martin's Griffin (first published 2014)
Finished on August 29, 2017
Rating: 2/5 (OK)

Publisher's Blurb:

An enchantingly romantic and magical novel by the New York Times bestselling author of GARDEN SPELLS and THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON.

It happens one morning - Kate finally wakes up from the slumber she's been in since her husband's death a year ago. Feeling a fresh sense of desire to take control of her and her young daughter's life, she decides to visit Suley, Georgia - home to Lost Lake. It's where Kate spent one of the happiest summers of her life as a child. She's not sure what she expects to find there, but it's not a rundown place full of ghosts and other curious oddities. Kate's Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the old place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake, can she bring the cottages - as well as her heart and the hearts of all the guests - back to life? Because sometimes lost loves aren't really lost. They're just waiting for you to find them again.

I read this on and off for two months. It was an easy enough read (and could have been read in two days rather than two months!), but it just didn't pull me in enough to keep me reading while on vacation or hosting guests during the summer months. I was glad to finally finish! I've only read one other by this author (Garden Spells) and I think I had a similar reaction. Good, but nothing great. 

*Just checked my review for Garden Spells and it looks like I enjoyed it quite a bit more than this one!

Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Contemporary Fiction
2007 Bantam Books
Finished on 10/30/08
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)




Product Description

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in an even smaller town, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit. In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it.…

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers. Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants—from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor. Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanelle, is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncannily clear. They are the last of the Waverleys—except for Claire’s rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire’s quiet life is turned upside down—along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart. Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past. And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy—if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom—or with each other.

Enchanting and heartfelt, this captivating novel is sure to cast a spell with a style all its own…

I remember when this first came out as one of Barnes & Noble's "Recommends" titles. After hearing several mixed reviews from co-workers and bloggers, I put the book on my TBR list, but wasn't overly eager to give it a try, not with all my other books vying for attention. Earlier this year a good friend (who loved the book) sent me a copy, wanting me to experience what she believed was a fabulous read. I added it to my stack of "gift" books with plans to read it within the next month or so. Well, that "month" dragged on much longer than I planned, but on a whim I finally picked it up, ignoring all the ARCs I'd just received. I was immediately drawn into the magic of the story and quickly devoured it between work and home life. I loved the characters and came to care about them, hoping for a happily-ever-after ending. I won't give anything away, but I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the story and plan to read the author's second novel, The Sugar Queen.

Thank you, Gayla, for sending me such a charming book! I'm glad I held off to read it until this past month. It was just the right bit of escapism for a long, stressful month.

Check out the following reviews (many of which are a quite a bit more in-depth than my meager post) on some of my favorite bloggers' sites:

A High and Hidden Place

Bookfoolery and Babble

Lesa's Book Critiques

Tripping Toward Lucidity

BooksPlease