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A review by thebacklistborrower
And the Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I don’t mean to gloat, but I think this was one of the highest rated books read by my book club in the two years I’ve been a member! There was so much we all liked about this book: how Saucier and Mullins give so much meaning to few words, the characters, the flow of the plot, and the narrative style. Particularly as a translated novel, this book is masterful.
[Excuse my rambling, the books I love the most are the hardest to review]
Alternately told through the perspective of a narrator and the characters, And The Birds Rained Down opens with a journalist who is investigating the great fires of northern ontario in the 1910s. She ends up at a remote camp where a few senior men live off-the-land, on their own terms, with little support except a pot farmer living in an abandoned hotel who brings them in supplies they can’t get otherwise. Except one day, the farmer brings his elderly aunt, who had been institutionalized as a youth and only recently escaped. Through this motley crew, the book explores aging, death, self-determination, societal expectations on women and the eldery, love, and trauma.
This book is not sad, but rather sparsely beautiful. Without giving too much away, it is hard to say everything I loved. Particularly with a senior cast of characters, this book has so much that you won’t read elsewhere. For a book that’s just over 150 pages, it has incredible depth. We all knew somebody else who would like it, and that’s certainly been my experience. I’m very glad to have had a chance to revisit it and remember why I loved it the first time around.
~February 11, 2015~
Amazing, beautiful book. It's focus on the lives of old men and a woman who just want to escape the rigid expectations of society and to live their lives, and die, with dignity. This book was hauntingly written and was very impactful.
[Excuse my rambling, the books I love the most are the hardest to review]
Alternately told through the perspective of a narrator and the characters, And The Birds Rained Down opens with a journalist who is investigating the great fires of northern ontario in the 1910s. She ends up at a remote camp where a few senior men live off-the-land, on their own terms, with little support except a pot farmer living in an abandoned hotel who brings them in supplies they can’t get otherwise. Except one day, the farmer brings his elderly aunt, who had been institutionalized as a youth and only recently escaped. Through this motley crew, the book explores aging, death, self-determination, societal expectations on women and the eldery, love, and trauma.
This book is not sad, but rather sparsely beautiful. Without giving too much away, it is hard to say everything I loved. Particularly with a senior cast of characters, this book has so much that you won’t read elsewhere. For a book that’s just over 150 pages, it has incredible depth. We all knew somebody else who would like it, and that’s certainly been my experience. I’m very glad to have had a chance to revisit it and remember why I loved it the first time around.
~February 11, 2015~
Amazing, beautiful book. It's focus on the lives of old men and a woman who just want to escape the rigid expectations of society and to live their lives, and die, with dignity. This book was hauntingly written and was very impactful.