In order to describe and review things in an orderly fashion, first comes a summary of the plot, then comes thoughts, and after is reflection.
This is a story about a long line of women known as the Sparrows. The line started with a young child that came out of the woods in the year 1682, she did not speak any definite language and had only three possessions with her, a bell, a star necklace, and a silver compass. She had long dark hair and beautiful pale skin. The town of Unity named her Rebecca Sparrow because the sparrows would flock around her when she went into the woods. One day, a man saw her walk over broken glass and not bat an eye despite her bleeding feet. Rumors began to circulate and soon all of the boys in the town began to shoot arrows at her for fun and were astonished because she did not let out any screams. It appeared as though Rebecca Sparrow could not feel pain. The washerwoman that had taken her in passed and she inherited the estate (not much of an estate just a shack, land, and the hourglass lake). She was accused to be a witch by a jealous woman (won't say why) and was dawned with garments with stones sewn in the hems and thrown into the lake. From then her line lived on through her daughter all the way to modern times to Jenny and her daughter Stella.
All of the Sparrow women were born in March and, on their 13th birthday, received a gift based off of their temperament, the following is a list with each (this isn't a spoiler it says it pretty early in the novel).
Rebecca Sparrow could not feel physical pain
Sarah Sparrow did not need to sleep
Rosemary Sparrow could run very fast
Leonie Sparrow did not get burned by fire
Constance Sparrow could stay underwater without air
Sophie Sparrow could see through the dark
Hannah Sparrow could find anything that had been lost
Coral Sparrow could predict the weather
Elisabeth Sparrow could turn anything into a meal
Amelia Sparrow could ease childbirth with the touch of her hand
Elinor Sparrow could smell a lie
Jenny Sparrow could see what people dreamed
Stella Sparrow could see how someone would die
The story is mainly about the last three, when the youngest receives her gift she saw how a woman would be murdered and desperately asked her father to tell the police what would happen, which he did, he was just really drunk and not taken seriously. When the murder actually happens the police go strait to her father, Will Avery, and he is the primary suspect due to his knowledge of how the crime happened before it happened. And the story is about how Stella and her mom go back to their hometown and revisit their history while the story of the case is on in the background.
That is as much background and summary I can give. Now onto thoughts. Well, I thought it was one of the best books I have ever read. The character development is flawless, in the beginning I found myself hating almost every character but as the story progressed and as the people grew and matured I fell in love with each and every one of them.
One thing to note that I wasn't expecting, was how little the actual plot mattered. It wasn't a chase to find the murderer or a stressful courtroom setting, it was just something that happened and caused the Sparrow women to revisit their past and renew broken bonds. This story focuses on very little things that seem to symbolize a lot. For example, the impossibility of a blue rose, the pain that lies in the depth of the hourglass lake where Rebecca Sparrow drowned so long ago. This is a story about love, family, and history and how we as individuals choose to define those aspects in our own lives. We can choose to ignore any one of the three but in its absence we are still defined.
For the reflection I wanted to discuss loss. Loss doesn't play a huge role in the novel but it is still there. When someone passes away or chooses not to be a part of your life anymore there is a grieving process. And the way the book describes this, for me, is as follows. When you lose someone, such a deep sadness follows, and this sadness arises when you think, feel, see, or hear anything that is beautiful. Because anything beautiful will remind us of something that was beautiful yet is no longer. And it is ok to be sad for awhile, but it is also ok to to take the sadness and choose to grow wiser, and choose to strengthen yourself, as the characters in the novel did.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, it is beautifully written and is a easy read as well (not too long). Even though it took me six months to finally finish (between the philosophy and psychology reading) it was still worth it. Now that it is summer I will be reading a lot more, my next journey shall be The Hobbit. It may take me awhile to read so please have no expectations of a review soon.
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"Above the stone wall, there stood one of the wild peach trees, possibly descended from one that had been set adrift long ago in the shipwreck, so close to sore. Or perhaps this tree had grown from a love token, tossed aside when it was no longer needed. The air itself smelled of peaches, here and all over Unity; when the breeze came up, petals fell like snow. If a person didn't move, if she was completely still, the petals streaming over her, catching in the hem of her clothes, in the strands of her hair, white as snow, quiet as snow, silent and fleeting and drifting down from above to cover her and carry her home"
--Alive Hoffman, The Probable Future (315-316).
