Other Birds
by Sarah Addison Allen
Published August 30th 2022 by St. Martin's Press
An enchanting tale filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won’t let you go.
Between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.
Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits—a stunning old cobblestone building shaped like a horseshoe, and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.
When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a young woman with a past, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and a lonely chef, and three ghosts. The sudden death of one of Zoey's new neighbors sets off a search that leads to the island's famous author and to a long-estranged relative of the sisters.
Each of them has a story, and each story has an ending which hasn't yet been written.
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Review5 Stars
Oh my sentimental little heart was going to love this book no matter what was in the pages, but wow I did not expect this beautiful, unconventional story. I love Sarah Addison Allen, I've been reading her books with my family since I was in high school, with my grandma giving me my first one, and then continuing to facilitate my love of her by sharing her books with my aunt and my cousins. We all love her books, they feel like home, especially with their lush locations and the realistic magic. The peaches that grow, the love that blooms, and in the case of Other Birds, the birds that carry the past in them. I literally tear up thinking about how much this book meant to me, especially with my Grandma now passed and my own unconventional family.
Unrelated to my own personal ties, Other Birds is a stunning release from Sarah Addison Allen, one that I have long awaited and one that is distinctly different than her previous releases. While we've read the love stories and the magic of that love, Other Birds follows the outcasts, the left behinds, the runners. It's not so much about the unloved, but rather, those who have yet to learn how to love and be themselves, who don't know how to accept that loneliness is part of life. It's a magical, woven story with unique characters, with equally unique journeys, who are all at the same place at the same time and there's a reason for it. The Dellawisp is unassuming, it's residents even more so, but the birds that live in its trees hold their stories and when Zoey arrives to take over her mother's condo, it's time for the birds to let those stories be told.
Other Birds feels like a story about the people who feel like misfits, but who truly fit in just as they are, it's a matter of them discovering those qualities in themselves are the very best parts of them. It's their unique stories, from wilting to blossoming, that make them special and it takes others who know that same experience to appreciate it. It's the small parts of their stories that are all connected, that truly is magical, even more so than the birds that keep causing messes. It's beautifully written, each character's voice is distinct, and it's the kind of story I don't think one can ever forget. It's a book I know I'll return it and I think others will too.
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