Take a photo of a barcode or cover
saralynnburnett 's review for:
When We Were Birds
by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
At under 300 pages I thought I would read this quick, but I didn’t! I lingered in the prose because it was so lush, so beautifully written. Port Angeles (Port of Spain) in Trinidad & Tobago comes alive and experiencing it through this novel was such a treat. The story follows Darwin, a Rastafarian gravedigger, and Yejide who comes from a chain of gifted women who helps the dead find their peace. It takes about 100 pages for these two to meet and while there’s romance and it was heartwarming; this story is also a murder mystery. It’s seeped in culture, death, spirits, tradition, mother-daughter relationships, mother-son relationships, destiny, heritage, and so so so much atmosphere. I LOVED it! Such a lyrical read, and Darwin? He’s going live rent free in my mind for a while.