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Jun 27, 2014KateHillier rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Ava and Henry Lavender are unusual. Henry because he has been mute most of life and Ava because she has wings. Her mother shelters her family from the world but, of course, the world creeps in regardless. Part is done by Ava herself and her neighbours, the rest by Nathaniel Sorrows - a devout man who has mistaken her for an angel. It's magical realism that you don't think twice about. Of course it's logical for people to turn into burns or be able to smell everything about a person or to commune with ghosts. It is utterly immersive and utterly heartbreaking as Ava tells her family's tale (starting with her grandmother) and how all those sorrows and pain lead up to Ava and her wings and the heartbreaking, devastating, trouble that brings. Despite how much your heart will hurt by the novel's end, this is a gorgeous novel and a brilliant first effort from Leslye Walton. I eagerly await her next work.