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Title details for The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson - Available

The Star Side of Bird Hill

by Naomi Jackson
Robin Miles
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
Two sisters are suddenly sent from their home in Brooklyn to Barbados to live with their grandmother, in this stunning debut novel This lyrical novel of community, betrayal, and love centers on an unforgettable matriarchal family in Barbados. Two sisters, ages ten and sixteen, are exiled from Brooklyn to Bird Hill in Barbados after their mother can no longer care for them. The young Phaedra and her older sister, Dionne, live for the summer of 1989 with their grandmother Hyacinth, a midwife and practitioner of the local spiritual practice of obeah. Dionne spends the summer in search of love, testing her grandmother's limits, and wanting to go home. Phaedra explores Bird Hill, where her family has lived for generations, accompanies her grandmother in her role as a midwife, and investigates their mother's mysterious life. This tautly paced coming-of-age story builds to a crisis when the father they barely know comes to Bird Hill to reclaim his daughters, and both Phaedra and Dionne must choose between the Brooklyn they once knew and loved or the Barbados of their family. Jackson's Barbados and her characters are singular, especially the wise Hyacinth and the heartbreaking young Phaedra, who is coming into her own as a young woman amid the tumult of her family.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 1, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781490675855
      • File size: 214213 KB
      • Duration: 07:26:16

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      With a voice that can shift from the liquid brown sugar of Barbados to Brooklyn's assertive nasal tones, Robin Miles offers a pitch-perfect reading of Naomi Jackson's remarkable first novel. The affecting coming-of-age story introduces us to 16-year-old Dionne and 10-year-old Phaedra in the summer of 1989. When their mother isn't able to care for them back home in Brooklyn, the girls are sent to their grandmother in Barbados. Miles uses a slight change of pace to signal the scenes of memory set in Brooklyn. And she handles shifts in perspective and tone beautifully--exuberant young Phaedra, self-conscious teen Dionne, and world-wise grandmother, as well as offering believable sound portraits of the men in their lives. What a pleasure. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 18, 2015
      Jackson's debut novel is a bittersweet coming-of-age tale of heartbreak and loss. Dionne and Phaedra, 16 and 10, are two sisters who go to Barbados in the summer of 1989, in the care of their grandmother Hyacinth, when their depressed mother is no longer able to take care of them in New York. Dionne acts out and meets boys, while Phaedra immerses herself in her grandmother's world. When their circumstances suddenly change and dictate a more permanent stay in Barbados, the girls are angry and confused. Their unfamiliar situation is further compounded by the reappearance of their long-gone father. He presents a chance to return to America, if they can trust him, and if they choose to leave their grandmother. Jackson's story becomes stronger and stronger as we get to know these characters. The themes she touches onâmental illness, immigration, motherhood, sexual awakeningâare potent and deftly juggled, anchored in the vivid locale of Bird Hill yet universally relatable. Readers will be turning the pages to follow Phaedra and Dionne's memorable journey.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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