Fall of the Birds by Bradford Morrow
My rating: 3/5 cats
this is a very atmospheric novella about loss. and birds. and the loss of birds.
it takes place in upstate new york where an unnamed insurance claims adjustor is living with his sixteen-year-old stepdaughter six months after the death of his wife laurel, who was caitlin’s mother.
the three of them were, as a family, passionate about ornithology, so when caitlin begins to point out that the seasonal birds usually found around their region have not yet returned from their winter journeys, he is both mildly troubled by the situation and begins to miss his wife and her knowledge and companionship all the more.
he begins to be summoned to an increasing number of incidents of bird-related property damage up and down the east coast as entire flocks of both expected and impossible species begin falling dead from the sky, puzzling ornithologists as the birds do not seem to be sick in any way, and the phenomenon shows no signs of abating.
as he drives back and forth to these sites, he spends a lot of time thinking about his wife, and lamenting the way their very separate mourning processes have affected his relationship with caitlin. it probably doesn’t help that he is also listening to the audio version of thomas hardy’s The Woodlanders on these drives; nothing enhances grief like a little thomas hardy, lemme tell you.
caitlin begins to accompany him on these trips, concerned about her beloved birds; both those in the wild and the ones she keeps as pets, and through this shared road trip experience, they find a way to reconnect with each other and begin to heal.
it’s a small story, heavy with imagery and sorrow, and while there is no true resolution with regards to the bird situation, the situation is both tender and relatable, and it is a haunting family elegy, which brings to mind that lovely line of dickinson’s, that “hope is the thing with feathers.”
and not, you know:
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