You might be saying, “Magical realism? This sounds like a perfectly normal book aside from the invisible pigeon.” You’re right– except that we haven’t gotten to the ghost residents yet. As the summer (and the mess in Lizabeth’s flat) progresses, the relationships that each character seeks begin to emerge. Other residents that begin to emerge are Mac, an executive chef whose mother abandoned him as a child, and Lucy, Lizabeth’s reclusive sister. She was raised in a religious cult, and one day she decided to steal the church’s money and run. Charlotte is a henna artist who, unbeknownst to Zoey, is on the run from her parents. She meets (and kind of corners) her neighbor, Charlotte, to help her. Lizabeth was a hoarder, so this is an enormous task. When Lizabeth unexpectedly dies, the caretaker of the Dellawisp, Fraiser, asks Zoey to clean out her apartment.
They have been held hostage for years by the nosy Lizabeth, an old woman that yells at them every time they make noise outside her door. While Zoey will do anything to get to know the people around her, the other residents of the Dellawisp do not talk at all. Her only real friend is an invisible bird named Pigeon, who follows her around and messes with her when she thinks she’s making wrong decisions. Zoey was neglected by her father and stepmother, so she seeks any type of connection throughout the book. However, he infused his apartment complex with small, blue birds called dellawisps that follow visitors when they visit. He tries to stay out of the limelight, so no one on the island sees him often. Avanger is an author who made the tiny island famous through his fictional book, Sweet Mallow. On this already magical-sounding island, Zoey pulls up to the Dellawisp, a hidden apartment complex owned my Roscoe Avanger. The island is dotted with businesses reminiscent of the golden age of its sugary treats. The flat is located on Mallow Island, which is famous for its marshmallows. Zoey doesn’t remember much about her mother, so she is seeking any connection to her. It follows the story of Zoey, a 19-year-old girl who moves out of her father’s house in Tulsa, Oklahoma to go live in her deceased mother’s flat in South Carolina. This book was a little slice of wonder wrapped up in a quick, sub-300 page read.
So, when a member of one of my book clubs suggested Other Birds, I was thrilled to have a reason to move it up on my TBR pile. I’m not sure why this is– I almost always love them. They tend to sit on my shelf a little longer than average while I opt for other selections over them.
Magical realism is a genre that I don’t pick up often, but for unknown reasons. Click here to see the full recipe on Taste of Home. Before we get to the review, here’s a themed treat to make to get you in the mood to read Other Birds. I love baking, so I thought it would be fun to pair a recipe with my blog posts. We’re going to try something different today.
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