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A review by illustrated_librarian
When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
In a fictionalised Trinidad, Darwin is a dejected gravedigger newly arrived in Port Angeles, desperate for money to care for his mother. Estranged from her and his Rastafari faith, he ponders the father who disappeared into this city and never returned. Meanwhile in a house as old as memory, on a hill at the edge of the rainforest, Yejide's mother is dying. The women in her family are both human and not - descended from corbeaux, black vultures who shepherd the souls of the dead. As she prepares to inherit her mother's gift for communicating with the dead, trouble is brewing in the sprawling cemetery at the heart of Port Angeles. Yejide and Darwin's destinies are intertwined, and the stormclouds are gathering.
I was bowled over by how rich and refreshing this was, inextricably entwined with the trappings of death and yet so so alive. Banwo managed to convey a depth of Trinidadian culture and history without detracting from the contemporary story of the characters. Her writing was incredibly lush and vivid; I felt transported to the exhaust fume-choked concrete bustle of Port Angeles, the misty forest air of Morne Marie, and the cold beauty of Fidelis cemetery.
The connection both characters have to the dead is completely different and yet it gradually brings them together in such a beautiful way, forming a deeply satisfying literary love story. I'm separating romance and love stories here because this isn't about romance, not really - it's a love that is inevitable and timeless, part of the mythic weft of the tale. The tale Banwo tells is heady and gothic, becoming gradually more unsettling and with some obviously dark overtones. Yet we leave both characters on a hopeful note, having brushed with death, considered their personal histories, and found a way to carry them into the future while walking their own paths.
There's so much here to ponder about grief, fate, family, and remembrance - this is one I'm sure will become richer with every reread.
I was bowled over by how rich and refreshing this was, inextricably entwined with the trappings of death and yet so so alive. Banwo managed to convey a depth of Trinidadian culture and history without detracting from the contemporary story of the characters. Her writing was incredibly lush and vivid; I felt transported to the exhaust fume-choked concrete bustle of Port Angeles, the misty forest air of Morne Marie, and the cold beauty of Fidelis cemetery.
The connection both characters have to the dead is completely different and yet it gradually brings them together in such a beautiful way, forming a deeply satisfying literary love story. I'm separating romance and love stories here because this isn't about romance, not really - it's a love that is inevitable and timeless, part of the mythic weft of the tale. The tale Banwo tells is heady and gothic, becoming gradually more unsettling and with some obviously dark overtones. Yet we leave both characters on a hopeful note, having brushed with death, considered their personal histories, and found a way to carry them into the future while walking their own paths.
There's so much here to ponder about grief, fate, family, and remembrance - this is one I'm sure will become richer with every reread.