One of my favorite books of the year. Barbara O’Neal, author of Write My Name Across the Sky MAGICAL AND BEAUTIFUL… An ode to family, the ones we create when the ones we’re born into are gone, or fail us, and the power of memories.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen | Goodreads

I want to thank Netgalley, and St. Martin's Press, for the copy of this book in exchange for a honest review. When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment on a tiny South Carolina island, 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.I truly enjoyed Other Birds, looked forward to reading it every day. There are some lovely characters in here, people you will enjoy getting to hang with, however briefly. Allen applies magical realism to great effect, illuminating the conflicts the characters are confronting. In addition, there is also a payload of wisdom about finding or creating one’s tribe, the significance of hanging on too long or too hard to the past, and the importance of learning our history and carrying forward our stories. Other Birds is a very sweet satisfying read We got wings we can’t see, Camille used to say. We were made to fly away.

OTHER BIRDS | Kirkus Reviews

And Oliver, Lizbeth’s estranged son who left the house for college education, still dealing with the damage his mother has created, having second thoughts to return to the island. Nineteen year old Zoey has just arrived at the apartment complex so that she can inhabit her late mother's studio apartment. Her mother died when she was seven and she's lived a lonely life since that time. Her father is wealthy, wanted little to do with her even though she lived in his home, and neither did the woman he married after Zoey's mom's death. It was as if her dad, stepmother, and her two step siblings were waiting for her to finally move out of their house so they could really be a family without her intrusion in their lives.Glendy Vanderah, best-selling author of Where the Forest Meets the Stars and The Light Through the Leaves Words cannot explain how I felt about these amazing characters – they were so original, flawed, but ultimately full of love. Their stories were all unique and all of their secrets came out in the end. Zoey has been summoned to the enchanted and unique Mallow Island, just outside of Charleston, after her mother's passing to clean out her things and claim her apartment. When she arrives at the Dellawisp condo, home to the tiny turquoise birds that give it its name, she meets an interesting group of neighbors, from a grieving chef to a sister who loses her sister unexpectedly right when Zoey first settles in, as well as a caretaker named Frasier. the premise of this one had me so excited/had so much potential, but the execution let me down 😭 i am a BIG fan of magical realism tropes and needed more of that in this book.

Other Birds: A Novel: Allen, Sarah Addison: 9781250019868

I don't always know what to think of stories that deal with magical realism but this one is a winner for me. The Dellawisps are the tiny turquoise birds that the five unit, well hidden, apartment building in Mallow Island, South Carolina, is named after. This birds inhabit the courtyard garden of the apartment complex, and they can be found around and on the apartment manager, Frasier, too. These little birds seem to have a lot to say, strong opinions about everything, and are every bit as scary, for some folks, as they are tiny. 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 its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy. The magical realism and surrealism matched with angsty dramatic stories of the people who find themselves at the Dellawisp sits- a stunning cobblestone building shaped like horseshoe : a place located in Mallow Island/ South Carolina. This is a beautifully written story with a heartwarming message about love and found family: “If the people around you don’t love you just as you are, find new people. They are out there.” I've come to realize I've lived a good deal of my life with a certain amount of magical realism. . .so when I find a dose of it in my reads that is just right - not too much and not requiring too much suspended disbelief . . .then I'm full in! Sarah Addison Allen has hit that sweet spot in her books I've had the pleasure to read, and Other Birds is no exception.I might have passed up this book if it wasn’t for my friend Diane’s wonderful review. Thanks, Diane. Sarah Addison Allen uncovers unifying concepts in her host of characters. Their lives stem from the bizarre to the tragic to the unexplainable. And they all circle dance around the deepest desire to be loved and to be accepted in the scheme of things. Other Birds is a gift from this author to see what can't readily be seen and to experience a life without self-imposed limitations. A honey of a read. A complimentary copy was provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen | Goodreads Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen | Goodreads

With a dash of her signature magic, Allen dishes up a touching story that hits the sweet spot between heartache and healing. Set in an atmospheric island town, Other Birds interlaces the disappointments and dreams of a group of creative, lonely people who have more in common than they know. And that’s the real magic in this story: the human ability to connect with people and places in meaningful ways that transform our lives.”Lizbeth Lime (no relation to Liz Lemon) had issues. She was a hoarder, but with a story to tell. Problem is that she was never able, amidst all the clutter, to locate the diaries that held the tale she needed told. A bookcase falls on Lizbeth on the day of Zoey’s arrival, which leaves another spirit wandering the premises. Her sister, Lucy Lime lives in a separate condo. The sisters had been, to put it mildly, not close. Lucy serves as a Boo Radley figure here, mostly seen peeking out from behind her curtains, watching, always watching, but never engaging. Allen skillfully weaves the various threads, as vignettes narrated by ghosts of former building residents provide further context as the plot unfurls…This will move readers.”—Publishers Weekly Did you know that marshmallows were originally made from the mallow plant which was said to grow on the island, hence the name Mallow Island. Everyone’s looking for the new Dorthea Benton Frank…and who knew Sarah Addison Allen might be it. This plot was so wholly original and firing on all cylinders. It feels like the quintessential NEW type of beach read for the 2020s. I was immediately absorbed by this story (and only later could the internet finally convince me that this was fiction, not fact) - North Carolina, Mallow Island, home of the original marshmallow, and dellawisps. Birds are throughout the book, stories and theories propounded by knowledgeable characters. Soon, a reader realizes, they are joined by haunts, ghosts, spirits of place and people. Zoey, 18-yrs old and now seeking her inheritance - a condominium left by her deceased mother - finds a community of living and dead to settle her into her new life. Zoey is a reader, and there is a reclusive author it is rumored living amongst them. The path of the book unravels one delicious clue after another, stories within stories.