Bird of Paradise - Hardcover

Covington, Vicki

3.77

39 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0671686348 ISBN 13: 9780671686345

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1990

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A novel about unexpected love and the things that can happen, almost magically, when expectations cease centers on an Alabama widow whose adult life has been shaped by her late husband's alcoholism

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From Publishers Weekly:

The author follows the well-received Gathering Home with a quiet, satisfying tale about the vitality of life, love and choices in the "golden years." Alabamian Honey Shugart's widowhood has been far more satisfying, if predictable, than her marriage to alcoholic Scotty. Her middle-aged son, preacher and college professor Jackie, is affected by the memories of his father's illness each time he comes from Florida to visit Honey, but she has come through the fire to a life of order and fundamental faith. Change is thrust upon her, however, when her sister Dinah dies and her step-niece Neva Joy urges the re-zoning and commercial sale of Dinah's house, once the family homestead. The prospective buyer is a black tour-bus company, whose offer to Honey and her neighbors raises the specter of race as well as the possible disintegration of neighborhood, no small issues for these small-town residents. The return of Judson Carmichael to his family home after an adult lifetime in Birmingham introduces a new element to Honey's life and proves that romance is not merely the prerogative of the young. Narrator Honey's voice is clear and true, her insights unsentimentally honest, and her spiritual faith convincing. She is a captivating heroine.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Honey Shugart believes in Al-Anon and angels; they've armored her through marriage to an alcoholic and then years of widowhood. Now, Sunday church, Monday bingo, Tuesday nursing-home visits--her life is as neatly patterned as the quilts she sews on Fridays. Then her sister's sudden death forces her to decide between money and family tradition and to acknowledge her attraction to a retired lawyer who has moved into her rural Alabama community. Nothing decrepit about these old folks; the characters are lively and funny. Covington's first novel was Gathering Home ( LJ 11/15/88). Give this one to your readers who enjoyed Olive A. Burns's Cold Sassy Tree ( LJ 10/15/84) and Clyde Edgerton's Walking Across Egypt ( LJ 3/15/87).
- Maurice Taylor, Bruns wick Cty. Lib., Southport, N.C.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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