The Nature of Small Birds

Title: The Nature of Small Birds

Author: Susie Finkbeiner

Genre: Christian Fiction, Family, Contemporary Fiction, Dual-timeline

Publisher: Revell

Source: Own

Challenges:  50 Books Challenge, Chantel's Read Your Bookshelf Challenge

My review:

Susie Finkbeiner is another author who has been on my radar for a while.

The Nature of Small Birds is my first introduction to her work.  I have several of her books on my TBR, and I look forward to reading them. 

I won this book in a giveaway, otherwise, I would not have picked it up. I was not drawn to the cover, I am not a bird lover, so it was a case of MIS-judging a book by its cover. At its core, The Nature of Small Birds is about family love. It's also an adoption story.

The Nature of Small Birds takes place in three time periods. The first is in 2013, told from Bruce's perspective. The second is 1975 from Linda's perspective, and the third is 1988 from Sonny's. It was very different reading from a male's perspective because it is rare. While jumping from three timelines can be jolting, Finkbeiner does a wonderful job.

This story is beautifully written. It will pull on your heartstrings and mess with your emotions. It deals with international adoption, grief, identity, illness, family, and racial discrimination. You will not believe it is over when you get to the end of the story. It will leave you wanting more, and I truly hope there is another book.

★★★★/5

Challenges:

 #39-A book about family                                       July-a book you have been avoiding

Synopsis (Goodreads): 

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adoptive family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival into their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy's desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he'll lose the daughter he's poured his heart into. Mindy's mother undergoes the emotional roller coaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy's sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family--but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.