Published in 1996 and made into a movie in 1997, I had this copy on my shelf to read for awhile. I finally opened it in September. What a wonderful story, to me it has some of the same feelings as Where the Crawdads Sing though the stories are not alike. 268 pages. This review excerpt is from Goodreads online: "My name is Avocet Abigail Jackson. But because Mama couldn't find anyone who thought Avocet was a fine name for a child, she called me Bird. Which is okay by me. She named both her children after birds, her logic being that if we were named for something with wings then maybe we'd be able to fly above the shit in our lives. ". .. So says Bird Jackson, the mesmerizing narrator of Connie May Fowler's vivid and brilliantly written, Before Women Had Wings Starstruck by a dime-store picture of Jesus, Bird fancies herself "His girlfriend" and embarks upon a spiritual quest for salvation, even as the chaos of her home life plunges her into a stony silence. In stark and honest language, she tells the tragic life of her father, a sweet-talking wanna-be country music star, tracks her older sister's perilous journey into womanhood, and witnesses her mother make a courageous and ultimately devastating decision. Yet most profound is Bird's own story--her struggle to sift through the ashes of her parents' lives, her meeting with Miss Zora, a healer whose prayers over the bones of winged creatures are meant to guide their souls to heaven, and her will to make sense of a world where fear is more plentiful than hope, retribution more valued than love. . . .
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| Page 1 The story begins |
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Pgs 28-29 Catholic Baptist
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There is a lot of good writing and almost lyrical descriptions of emotions, forgiveness, grief. On pages 28-32 Bird relates how her sister Phoebe becomes Catholic just like Mama and Bird so wants to do the same. But Mama insists no she must be Baptist like her non church going Baptist declared father .Bird is not happy about this.
On to Page 77 where Bird is somewhat dealing with the grief over her father's death though she is almost in denial. "Daddy's death didn't seem final to me."
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| Pages 76-77 Grief from death denia; |
I noted her impression of forgiveness as the "mystery of love" pages 103-105 Bird hears her Mama talking with Mr. Ippolito and decides that "just maybe forgiveness exists not to excuse the sinner but to heal those who suffered. "
Here are pages 103 and 105 which I cannot align side by side
Their lives unfurl and Bird has found respite and rescue with Miss Nora. Bird has been beaten often by Mama who is clearly out of control. Finally Miss Nora comes to tend Birds strap marks and then meets up with Mama. Pg 255. Birds emotions--
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Pages 254-255
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Mama gives in and agrees to let Miss Nora take Bird away with her while Mama heals and gets rehab. Though Bird wants to stay to help Mama realizes she must face and conquer this alone. Page 261 "when you can't imagine the future and the past is too powerful..."
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| Pages 260-261 Future, past |
This is a wonderful book to read though it can bring tears. I give it 5 ***** I just found in researching more about this book that a movie was made and I will try to get it on Amazon or Netflix. Now that I've reviewed the book it would be interesting to watch the movie.
I have read nearly all the O'Reilly/Dugard Killing series of books. This one I had not so had to order a copy to complete my collection of this series. I started reading it October 31 and did not finish until November 23 although if I had time I would have read thru all 280 pages in a few days. Published in 2023 this covers the horrors of the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials in 1692-93. 
