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The Days When Birds Come Back: A Novel Kindle Edition

by Deborah Reed (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 109 ratings
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This tale of renovation and recovery is “an emotionally satisfying novel about the lingering effects of trauma and how people deal with guilt.”—Publishers Weekly
 
June is in transition, reeling from her divorce and trying to stay sober. She returns to the Oregon coast where she grew up, and must decide what to do with her late and much-loved grandparents’ charming cedar-shingled home, a place haunted by memories of her childhood.
 
Jameson comes highly recommended to renovate the old house in preparation for selling it, and from their first contact, he senses a connection with June. He too is unmoored as he struggles to redefine his marriage in the aftermath of loss. But what can the future hold as long as they are gripped so firmly by the past?
 
The Days When Birds Come Back, like the house itself, is a graceful testament to endurance, rebuilding, and the possibilities of coming home, from the acclaimed author of Things We Set on Fire and Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan.
 
“I don’t believe I’ve ever read such an exquisitely painful story that has on a daily basis so affected the way I interact with other humans, especially my dearest loved ones. This is a novel that makes me want to pay better attention.”—Bonnie Nadzam, author of Lions and Lamb
 
“Reed’s painterly descriptions of the Oregon coast are so vivid and real, so beautiful and lyrical that her writing is more like a visual art form.” — Portland Tribune
 
“Achingly exquisite…a blindingly beautiful book” — Caroline Leavitt, New York Times-bestselling author of With or Without You
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  1. Print length
    290 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. Publication date
    January 9, 2018
  6. File size
    5478 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Reed shines with a light hand and direct storytelling, but her characters are what make this novel move-their vulnerability, imperfect recovery, and endearing loss for words.

-- "Booklist"

An emotionally satisfying novel about the lingering effects of trauma and how people deal with guilt.

-- "Publishers Weekly"

About the Author

Deborah Reed is the author of the novel Carry Yourself Back to Me, a Best Book of 2011 Amazon Editors' Pick. She is also the author of the bestselling thriller, A Small Fortune, and its sequel, Fortune's Deadly Descent, written under the pen name, Audrey Braun. Deborah holds an MFA in Creative Writing and teaches at UCLA's Extension Writing Program, as well as workshops and conferences around the United States and in Europe. She lives in Los Angeles, California.



Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkersseries from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including several AudioFileEarphones Awards, a coveted Audie Award, and was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01N9YURE3
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 9, 2018)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 9, 2018
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5478 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 109 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Deborah Reed

Deborah Reed

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DEBORAH REED is the author of seven novels, most recently Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan, and The Days When Birds Come Back, both published with Mariner. She has taught novel writing at the Hellenic American University in Athens, Greece, the UCLA extension program in Los Angeles, and was previously the co-director of the Black Forest Writing Seminars at Albert-Ludwig University in Freiburg, Germany. Until June of 2022, she was the owner of Cloud & Leaf Bookstore in Manzanita, Oregon. She now lives in Berlin.

www.deborahreedwriter.com

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
109 global ratings
An intimate, emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true
5 Stars
An intimate, emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true
Deborah Reed is a treasure in contemporary American fiction, and The Days When Birds Come Back is her finest work yet.I am not one for plot synopses as part of a review. So I will just say this: I have never felt such an emotional connection to characters as I did to June and Jameson. Reading this beautiful, wonderful story left me stunned and exhilarated.If you love fiction that carries you on an emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
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Top reviews from the United States

Elton Pruitt
5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate, emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2018
Verified Purchase
Deborah Reed is a treasure in contemporary American fiction, and The Days When Birds Come Back is her finest work yet.

I am not one for plot synopses as part of a review. So I will just say this: I have never felt such an emotional connection to characters as I did to June and Jameson. Reading this beautiful, wonderful story left me stunned and exhilarated.

If you love fiction that carries you on an emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
Customer image
Elton Pruitt
5.0 out of 5 stars An intimate, emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2018
Deborah Reed is a treasure in contemporary American fiction, and The Days When Birds Come Back is her finest work yet.

I am not one for plot synopses as part of a review. So I will just say this: I have never felt such an emotional connection to characters as I did to June and Jameson. Reading this beautiful, wonderful story left me stunned and exhilarated.

If you love fiction that carries you on an emotional journey with characters whose hearts and flaws ring true, you owe it to yourself to read this book.
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3 people found this helpful
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A. Jacobson
4.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I didn't
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
I found this book very hard to get into, at first. There was just way to much thrown at the read (details, etc.) in the first few chapters. And, to be honest, I was ready to close up and call it quits.

That said, I'm glad I didn't. As the story unfolded, I found myself anxious to read more and more. Eventually, I couldn't put it down. I found myself being able to relate to the characters, especially June, and I needed to find out what happened to them.

Overall, I was very pleased with both the story and the writing.

*I was given a free copy for my honest opinion.*
2 people found this helpful
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Supre
3.0 out of 5 stars Predictable ending.
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2018
Verified Purchase
It was an okay read. It goes back and forth in time which is a bit confusing at times. The ending is predictable.
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Grant Burkhardt
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, wonderful
Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
Unsurprisingly, in true Deborah Reed fashion, "The Days When Birds Come Back" is masterful. The characters leap off the page, as does the misty, crisp Oregon setting. There's a lot of talk about this book being an expression of grief. And it is. But to me, the novel is as much a celebration of people who - after tragedy hits - keep moving, slogging, step by step; of those who just keep doing it, living, existing, remaining. "The Days When Birds Come Back" is beautiful, wonderful, and worth your time.
2 people found this helpful
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Erin L.
4.0 out of 5 stars Another great observation on the human condition and how our past defines our future.
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2018
Verified Purchase
I love Deborah Reed's writing style. Her characters are drawn so deeply.
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Corina
3.0 out of 5 stars frustrating
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2018
Verified Purchase
frustrating novel about two broken people....it takes forever for them to meet up....and then it goes nowhere....sigh
One person found this helpful
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Bonnie Brody
2.0 out of 5 stars Not My Cuppa
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2018
Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )
I tried to get into this novel on more than one occasion but was not successful. I found the narrative boring and the writing superficial. The characterization lacked depth and there was nothing propelling me to stick with this book.
2 people found this helpful
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Amy C. Bates
5.0 out of 5 stars and that there is joy at the end of every journey
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2018
Verified Purchase
Deb Reed writes a sentence of such lyrical beauty that it is only seems natural that this story is an ode to sadness and grief. But more importantly ,this novel celebrates hope and recovery. Each character, from the house that brings Jameson and June together, to June and Jameson themselves, show that we are all more resilient than we could ever imagine, and that there is joy at the end of every journey, though the joy we find is most likely not what we expected as we started to find our way out of the fog.
2 people found this helpful
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