Before Women Had Wings
Connie May Fowler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
4.00
· 16 ratings · 304 pages · Published: 07 May 1996
So says Bird Jackson, the mesmerizing narrator of Connie May Fowler's vivid and brilliantly written, Before Women Had Wings.
Starstruck by a dime-store picture of Jesus, Bird fancies herself "His girlfriend" and embarks upon a spiritual quest for salvation, even as the chaos of her home life plunges her into a stony silence. In stark and honest language, she tells the tragic life of her father, a sweet-talking wanna-be country music star, tracks her older sister's perilous journey into womanhood, and witnesses her mother make a courageous and ultimately devastating decision.
Yet most profound is Bird's own story--her struggle to sift through the ashes of her parents' lives, her meeting with Miss Zora, a healer whose prayers over the bones of winged creatures are meant to guide their souls to heaven, and her will to make sense of a world where fear is more plentiful than hope, retribution more valued than love. . . .
"A thing of heart-rending beauty, a moving exploration of love and loss, violence and grief, forgiveness and redemption."
--Chicago Tribune
"There is no denying the depth of Connie May Fowler's talent and the breadth of her imagination."
--The New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant."
--The Boston Sunday Globe
Tagged as:
- historical 3
- historical fiction 3
- coming of age 3
- drama 2
- domestic drama 2
- 20th century 2
- family 2
- literary fiction 2
- gothic 1
- southern gothic 1
- Add topics
- format - reader age
- young adult 3
- book 1
- content warnings
- abuse 3
- child abuse 2