Before Women Had Wings - Hardcover

Fowler, Connie May

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399141294 ISBN 13: 9780399141294

Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996

Synopsis

Starstruck by a dime-store picture of Jesus, Avocet Abigail "Bird" Jackson fancies herself "His girlfriend" and embarks upon a spiritual quest for salvation, even as the chaos of her home life plunges her into a stony silence. In stark and honest language, Bird tells the tragic tale of her father, a sweet-talking wanna-be country music star, tracks her older sister's perilous journey into womanhood, and witnesses her mother make a courageous and ultimately devastating decision.

Yet most profound is Bird's own story--her struggle to sift through the ashes of her parents' lives, her meeting with Miss Zora, a healer whose prayers over the bones of winged creatures are meant to guide their souls to heaven, and her will to make sense of a world where fear is more plentiful than hope, retribution more valued than love. . . .

About this title

Review:

Raised in an atmosphere of poverty and violence, 6-year-old Avocet Abigail Jackson, or Bird as she's called, is wise beyond her years. After falling to abuse by her alcoholic parents and the destructive upheaval of moving from one flop house to the next, her one solace is Jesus, whom she fantasizes as a possible suitor. While her older sister discovers romance with a local boy, Bird discovers Miss Zora, a mysterious black woman who lives alone in a cottage near Bird's school and comes to teach the little girl about dignity and her own capacity for forgiveness.

From the Publisher:

Told through the eyes of 9-year-old Bird Jackson, BEFORE WOMEN HAD WINGS is a poignant tale of resilience and triumph in the face of abuse and poverty. When you read it, you are somewhat glad that it's fiction because you hate to think that a child could be treated so awfully. I discovered, however, that this book is -- unfortunately -- based on a true story. The author Connie May Fowler grew up poor and fatherless in St. Augustine, Florida. She and her sister were frequently targets of their mother's alcoholic rage. As a child, Connie sought refuge from her awful circumstances through words, first through reading and then through writing. Connie has said that for her writing was a kind of salvation. You sense this in her writing, because her tone never comes off as being the least bit bitter. After reading her book, I was dying to meet her. I had seen her on the Oprah Winfrey Show, when she talked about her book, which Oprah made into a Oprah Winfrey Presents movie on ABC-TV (in which Oprah and Ellen Barkin starred). She seemed so sweet, you just couldn't imagine anyone hurting her. I finally got the opportunity to hear her read from her book when she appeared at the Miami Book Fair last fall. She is a marvelous reader! If you ever have the chance to hear her, please go. Her voice has this wonderful lyrical quality, and she has a true appreciation for words and their meaning. I feel privileged to know Connie, and I can't wait for her to write her next book, since I'm now a true fan! -- Jennifer RichardsBallantine Books Publicity

About this edition

• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0399141294
• ISBN 13: 9780399141294
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272