The Book of Dead Birds by Gayle Brandeis

This Bellwether Prize-winning novel, The Book of Dead Birds by Gayle Brandeis is about survival and the complexity of mother-daughter relationships.

Korean-American, Ava Sing Lo, has been unintentionally killing her mother's birds since she was a little girl. Now as a young adult, Ava leaves San Diego, where she has spent the better part of her life, for the Salton Sea, to volunteer helping environmental activists save thousands of birds poisoned by chemicals from farm runoff. Surrounded by death and painful memories, she must face her demons; fortunately she has the help of some special friends.

Ava's mother, Helen, has been troubled by her own past for decades. As a young girl in Korea, Helen was drawn into prostitution on a segregated American army base. Several cruel and brutal years passed before a naïve, young white American soldier married her and took her to California. After giving birth to a baby with dark skin, she's quickly abandoned by her new husband, and left to make a life for herself and her daughter in a foreign country.

The Book of Dead Birds is a very fast read, mostly because of its lyrical prose and engaging characters. It’s also a very intelligent, pungent and beautifully crafted novel. The relationship between mother and daughter is a complex one. This novel explores the deeply-rooted psychological exchange between women who share the same DNA. What passes between Ava and her mother is captured in Ava’s struggle to come to terms with her mother's terrible past while at the same time making a place for herself in the world.

The Book of Dead Birds was the second winner of the Bellwether Prize, established by Barbara Kingsolver. This award is the only major North American prize that specifically advocates literary fiction addressing issues of social justice. “It’s a thrilling search, every time we read the submissions,” Kingsolver said on the Bellwether website. “We always hope for a winner that perfectly embodies the standards and hopes of this endeavor: strong writing, a compelling voice, and clear moral vision."

Before beginning my book-a-week challenge, I also read Mudbound, which was the 2006 winner of the Bellwether Prize. Both of these novels were fabulous. I intend to read the remaining winning novels including The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, the 2008 winner.