Other Birds

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Other Birds

Author: Sarah Addison Allen

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: 8.30.22

Publisher’s Summary 

From the New York Times bestselling author of Garden Spells comes 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 on an island outside of Charleston she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written.

My Review

“There are birds, and then there are other birds. Maybe they don’t sing. Maybe they don’t fly. Maybe they don’t fit in. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be an other bird than just the same old thing.”

While fans of Sarah Addison Allen have been waiting since 2015's First Frost (Waverley Family, #2,) the author has survived cancer and struggled with the loss of her mother and sister, days apart while writing this book. The long wait and these overwhelming factors make Other Birds all the more amazing. A wonderful story of pain, longing, abandonment, mental health, and all types of mothers. True to the author's style, magical realism is woven into the lives of the Dellawisp residents in such a way that a reader believes every word. Full of ghosts and secrets and the painful longing to belong, Other Birds is beautiful, heartbreaking, and hopeful. There is also a strong food storyline, which I personally always love.