And, the stories of Roscoe Avanger, the local author who brought fame to Mallow Island, unites all of them. But, the people locked behind that gate are loners Frasier, the manager, haunted by the ghosts of the island itself Mac, a chef clinging to Camille’s memory, the cook who fed all the starving children of the neighborhood, and the only mother he ever loved Charlotte, a henna artist running from her childhood memories and the two Lime sisters who don’t speak to each other. But, Zoey brings her empty birdcage and an invisible bird, Pigeon, with a strong personality.Īnd, Zoey brings hope – hope that she finds friends and a home, something she hasn’t really had in years. Most people didn’t know they were down an alley, hidden behind a gate, and named for the tiny turquoise birds, dellowisps, that lived in the bushes. The Dellawisp Condos were in the only building on the island that survived when all the houses burned during the Civil War. She inherited it from her mother, and now that she’s eighteen and going to start college in Charleston in the fall, she’s moving there, leaving behind her father and his second family who never wanted her. Zoey Hennessey has high expectations for the tiny condo on Mallow Island, South Carolina. All of those are magic in themselves, but Allen adds elements of magical realism. Other Birds is a coming-of-age novel, a story of ghosts, a story of the past and hope.

If you haven’t read Garden Spells or The Peach Keeper or any of her other books, you’ve missed the magic that is interspersed with everyday life, just accepted as part of it. They’re few and far between, and the rarity just adds to the magic that she puts into her books. Sarah Addison Allen’s novels are always magical.

Sarah addison allen other birds