The Bird Sisters is Rebecca Rasmussen's debut novel and what a debut it is! I've been looking forward to reading Rebecca's novel for quite a while now and it was well worth the wait. I also have to mention the cover because I think it's unique and beautiful and really fits with the story. I would describe The Bird Sisters as a tall drink of ice tea on a really hot day - deeply satisfying. Rebecca's beautiful writing of this story of two sisters who remain faithful to each other throughout their lives will resonant in your soul long after you turn the final page.
The story opens with Milly and Twiss, two elderly sisters living alone in Spring Green, Wisonsin. They are known as the bird sisters because Twiss tends to injured birds while Milly tends to the people who bring them in by listening to their stories. Their lives are pretty sedate now with Twiss, if she's not tending to an injured bird, wandering their land and Milly wandering the house; both living in their memories of the past. The story itself weaves seamlessly between the past and the present giving us insights into how the sisters end up alone and together for all of their lives.
Milly has always had dreams of a family - she wanted a husband and children. She even had names picked out for them along with a boy she has set her sights on. Milly is a really sweet character, always trying to please people. She loves to bake for everyone as it is something that will make a person smile and be happy. She is also described as being very pretty; a girl who could have her pick of boys if she wanted. There was never a doubt that Milly would marry.
Then there was Twiss, a few years younger than Milly, who I have to say was my favorite character. She is full of spunk and sassiness as a young girl; a classic tom-boy. Twiss spends most of her days out on the golf course with her golf-pro father and she loves it. If she's not doing that then she's off looking for trouble somewhere else.
Then comes the summer of 1947 and everything changes for them. Milly and Twiss are teenagers. Their father has an accident that puts a distinct end to his golf career and he moves himself into the barn, refusing to live in the house anymore. Their parents are at odd ends and the girls try their hardest to bring them back together. Then cousin Bett comes to stay for the summer. She's different from anyone else the girls have known and ultimately she turns their lives upside down before the end of the summer arrives in ways that they never could have expected.
So you, as the reader, know how the story will end with the sisters as spinsters with only each other for company. It is the heart wrenching journey that the author takes you on to get to that point that will tug at your heart and have you fully invested in these woman's lives. As with all of our lives it is the events that take place and the decisions that we make that ultimately shape our lives and bring us to where we are. Rebecca weaves this story in such a captivating way that we are hanging onto every word as we learn the single most devastating event that changes the lives of these girls forever.
Rebecca Rasmussen artfully recreates life in a small town and that of the sisters living on a farm. The novel is full of quirky, unique characters and Milly and Twiss will no doubt find a way into anyone's heart and the way these two sisters give up everything for each other will forever touch you. The writing is absolutely beautiful and I found myself rereading several passages just to experience them again. The Bird Sisters goes onto my keeper shelf. I'm sure I will revisit this beautiful novel and Milly and Twiss again in the future. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good, well written story that will allow you to escape for a while into a different time and place. The Bird Sisters: A Novel
"It was a warm spring morning in early May, the kind that led to afternoon picnics, plates of baked chicken and wax beans. The crocuses had given way to the tulips, which surrounded the chapel like a yellow collar." ~ from The Bird Sisters
When I read that passage, I fell in love with Rebecca Rasmussen's debut novel. Set in Spring Green, Wisconsin, The Bird Sisters opens with a visit from a stranger and unfolds into a recollection of the summer of 1947, when Milly and Twiss discovered truths about their priest, their parents, and their cousin Bett. What unfolds is a bittersweet story about Twiss and Milly, about their fractured family, their broken hearts, and their devotion.
By crafting such powerful images like the one in the quote above, Rasmussen grounds her main characters and her readers to a sacred place and time. Her story reminds us how that strong sense of place can carry us back and forth through our memories and anchor us to our lives.
Rasmussen's story flows seamlessly between the past and present, and her characters appear in vivid form. Her novel is simply wonderful.
"Whenever a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds' heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can't, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who've brought them. The two sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.".
Known to most, in the small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin, as "The Bird Sisters", life for these spinster sisters, destined them to always be together. As young girls, Milly, was a beautiful girl, who was in love with Asa; she dreamed of marriage and children. Twiss, was somewhat of a fun-loving, wild spirit who enjoyed her freedom. Life, as we know, does not always turn out as we planned, and for Milly and Twiss, the summer of 1947, when the sisters were teenagers, was the turning point in their lives that carved out what would be their future--- growing old together in their childhood home.
The story moves from present time back to that summer of 1947, and it is told in alternating chapters. The reader gets a glimpse into the sister's parents troubled marriage, their mother's frustrations and regrets, their father's downward fall from his job as a respected golf pro, and also what transpired the summer older cousin Bette came to visit. Bit by bit the reader understands the events that determined the course of their adult lives.
From the very beginning I was anxious to find out what happened that was so horrible to cause the lives of Milly and Twiss to turn out the way they did. The sister characters are so finely honed, so much so that I felt emotionally invested in them. Although their lives made me sad, I admired how devoted they were to one another. There is so much more that I could say, however, I want to be careful not to say too much. The Bird Sisters was a terrific debut novel. It's written in a style that worked well for me: a character driven novel with memorable but flawed characters, a story that hooks you early on and keeps you turning the pages, and just one of those stories that will keep me talking about this book for a long while.
In some ways this book made me think of (2) other books I read and loved as well over the last several years: Tomato Girl and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: A Novel. As with The Bird Sisters, these books left a lasting impression, each were debut novels, and each in their own way moved me deeply. All three are MUST READS for your summer reading list. Highly recommended! - Farm - Rural Life - Front Porch Folk - Cousins'
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