Other Birds

Since her mother died and her father remarried, Zoey hasn't really felt like she fit at home. She leaves Tulsa for Mallow Island, South Carolina, where she's inherited a studio apartment that her mother had owned. A mysterious invisible bird named Pigeon travels with her. The apartment building is small – just five units – and the courtyard is populated with tiny turquoise birds called dellawisps, after which the building is named.

Shortly after Zoey's arrival, a crotchety resident named Lizbeth Lime dies. She was a bit of a hoarder, and Frasier, the apartment manager, asks Zoey to take on the task of cleaning out Lizbeth's apartment. As she cleans, Zoey gets to know the other residents: Lizbeth's reclusive sister Lucy; Charlotte, a young woman reluctant to trust anyone, who may not be who she says she is; big-hearted chef Mac; and of course, Frasier, although he doesn't live onsite. Oh, and then there are the ghosts, too. Everyone has secrets, and no one is entirely what they appear to be. But Zoey, with her perpetually cheerful nature, manages to befriend the other residents and begin to learn their stories.

Allen's writing style is just beautiful. She draws word pictures that you can almost touch, and it makes it easy for me to envision the setting, the characters, the action as I read. Her characters are flawed, but the more endearing for their flaws. I was absolutely invested in what happened to them, even the ghosts.

At its heart, this is a story about coming home. A story about love and loss, and how either or both can sometimes keep folks earthly or ethereal trapped somewhere far longer than we need to be. It's also about the beauty of found family, and people learning to love and belong to the family they've found. I absolutely adored it, and I highly recommend it.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All of the opinions here are mine, and I don't say nice things about books I don't actually like.