Published by Skyhorse Publishing Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction
Format: ARC, eBook
Irene has suffered loss in her life. Her early childhood was spent traveling along with her mother sleeping in tents or motels if they were lucky, while attending music festivals. But then her mother was gone, and her grandmother raised her. As an adult, she suffered a life changing, devastating, heartbreaking tragedy. She left her home in San Francisco and found herself a guest in a crumbling lakefront hotel called La Llorona at the base of a volcano in Central America. She is welcomed by the lovely woman who owned the hotel. She was given a place to heal, to reconnect with nature, to get some sleep and to form bonds.
Soon Irene finds herself running the hotel. She embraces those who stay at the hotel as they equally embrace her. She finds peace, she makes friends, she welcomes others, she accepts and is accepted, and she finds her “family”.
The vivid and lush descriptions of the landscape, the lake, the volcano, the birds, and the flowers had me wanting to visit. To taste the mouthwatering meals, to hike, to unwind and relax. It’s a beautiful place, but not everyone in this book is as lovely as the land they live on.
This book touches on themes of family, finding your family/community, grief, loss, abandonment, love, nature, and home. I enjoyed Maynard’s beautiful writing and characters. There is character development and I enjoyed seeing Irene through many stages of her life. I experienced several emotions while reading this book. I felt for Irene and all the loses in her life, I celebrated with her when good things happened, I felt joy when she was happy, and I was angry there was betrayal in her life. I loved books the evoke emotion and are thought provoking. This book did both!
Readers also get introduced to many of her guests who stay at The Bird Hotel as Irene has named it. We learn their reasons for staying at the hotel, and we get to know them briefly.
I had only read one other book by Joyce Maynard, and I will be changing that! I look forward to reading some of her previous books while being on the lookout for future books.
Beautifully written, moving, thought provoking and evoking emotion.
Thank you to Skyhorse Publishing, Arcade and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.