Winter Birds: A Novel
by By Grimsley, Jim
Category: Fiction , Literary

In Jim Grimsley's remarkable first novel,     Winter Birds, Danny Crell tells himself     his own story, and in doing so illuminates     the heartbreaking story of his father's violent     tyranny over his mother, his sister, and his three     younger brothers.     The novel begins on Thanksgiving in rural     North Carolina in a broken-down cottage the     Crell children have nicknamed "The Circle     House." Ellen Crell's attempts at a family meal     are thwarted and finally disastrously ruined     when Bobjay draws her into a violent quarrel.     It leads to a chase wherein Bobjay is the hunter,     Ellen the prey, and their five children are caught     in between.     Winter Birds is a haunting, unforgettable     portrait of an American family shattered by     violence, and of the lengths a woman will go to     keep her family whole.