In Hovering Flight
Joyce Hinnefeld
September 2008
288 pages
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FTC disclosure: This one was from the library. Curses! You were foiled again.
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Today I’m participating in the Spotlight Series Tour for Unbridled Books. The goal is to feature small press publishers, their authors, and their books. You can check out the Spotlight Series blog for complete details, as well as the other featured books for the Unbridled Books tour.
Unbridled Books publishes modern classics, books to savor, re-read, and keep. The press was founded by Greg Michalson and Fred Ramey, who have worked together since the early 1990s and who consider their publishing as an extended conversation about what makes a great book great. Unbridled stands for everything that is best about publishing in this current cultural and economic climate: vision, a commitment to nurturing authors’ careers, extraordinary stories and personal narratives told in exceptional prose, and the exquisite packaging that makes each book a treasure to hold.
I chose to read In Hovering Flight, by Joyce Hinnefeld, for a variety of reasons. First, doesn’t it have a gorgeous cover? (Yes, I’m a cover whore.) And second, the story line was a bit different for me. While it is by a female author, and it has a female protagonist (two things I usually gravitate toward when reading fiction), it also deals with ecology and birds, two things that normally don’t pique my interest. Granted, I do have an owl for a reading buddy (her name is Olivia, btw), but otherwise, I’m not much of a bird person. However, I wanted something different to read.
And you don’t have to be a bird lover to enjoy this book. In Hovering Flight is the story of Tom and Addie Kavanagh, and their daughter Scarlet.
Tom and Addie’s daughter, Scarlet, has always loved birds too, though not with the nearly fanatical passion of her parents. She has loved them enough to write about them, off and on, since she was a child. But now she is less concerned about whether or not the Cuvier’s kinglet suddenly, magically, reappeared in southeastern Pennsylvania than about the instructions her mother presented to her and Tom two weeks ago—for what she wished them to do with her body: clear orders for a brazenly illegal burial. There is no easy way to handle such a request, as far as Scarlet can see. And it’s hard to say what Tom is thinking.
Tom is an ornithologist, and a professor at a small college. He meets Addie when she takes his popular class about birds, and they get married after she graduates. Although she originally had plans to become a teacher, Addie discovered both art and birds late in her college career. Both become almost an obsession. She becomes a bird illustrator, then later an environmental activist. Despite her increasingly radical actions, Tom and Scarlet stick by Addie. The book begins with Addie’s death from cancer, and looks back at her life with Tom and Scarlet and birds, and how she becomes increasingly disillusioned. The book also gives you a lot to think about, as it deals with family relationships, lifelong friendships, ecology, and alternative burial. And of course, birds. But not in an incomprehensible way.
It’s a well-crafted story that is also a good read. I enjoyed reading about all of the characters, particularly Tom and Scarlet. I’d say Unbridled Books definitely lives up to their claim for exceptional prose and exquisite packaging. Also, Olivia gives it two wings up.
Wow, this book sounds like something I’d never read, so it’s really fun that you picked it up and gave it a go. It sounds like it tackles a lot of topics, too, from ecology to burial. I am now really intrigued as to how Addie was buried- for some really creepy reason, I am imagining her stuffed like the birds in the museum, which is BIZARRE on my part…
.-= Aarti´s last blog ..Review: Penhallow =-.
There is no stuffing involved! Although that would’ve added an intriguing twist.
I’m glad you enjoyed your pick for the tour!
.-= Chrisbookarama´s last blog ..Reading Together: Coraline =-.
Me, too.
I am so glad to see you enjoyed this book. I picked this book as my favorite read of 2009 – loved it – so I am always glad when I see good reviews of it. Unbridled Books is right at the top of my favorite publishers list too
I like that they publish authors who are not well-known (necessarily) and have a literary fiction feel…and if you’re a cover whore (I am too) they have the best covers out there!!
.-= Wendy´s last blog ..Honest Scrap Award – 10 Things About Me =-.
I was quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it, since it’s not something I’d normally go for. Well, except for the cover…
I agree that Unbridled books have exquisite packaging! This sounds like a book I would love.
And I think it’s one of those books that would appeal to a variety of people, given all of the different things it addresses.
Like Aarti, I too am curious about how Addie wanted to be buried! I read a non-fiction book earlier this year about the search for the ivory-billed woodpecker and really enjoyed it. Olivia is very cute, by the way.
.-= Christy´s last blog ..Teaser Tuesday: Black Mountain Breakdown =-.
Olivia says thank you.
I love this book!!! I am so glad you liked it, too!
.-= Amy @ My Friend Amy´s last blog ..Review: Sons of Thunder by Susan May Warren =-.
First, The Disappeared. Then, this one. This bodes well for Beneath the Lion’s Gate.
My book group read this a few months ago and the general consensus was that it was too bleak and the characters weren’t likeable. I enjoyed reading your perspective.
.-= Suzanne ´s last blog ..Ulysses — come join me =-.
I think if you focus on Addie it’s a bleak book (like her attitude), but I tried not to let her bring me down.
I was totally surprised at how much I liked my Unbridled book today. I have always had good luck with them and have read so many good things about the the books I haven’t read that I thought I try one that was totally new to me. I agree that they have lived up to their reputation!
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Review: Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari =-.
I don’t normally pay attention to who a publisher is, so this is a different approach for me, picking a book by its publisher.
I’m getting old. I saw the cover and thought, “Oh, I read this.” But, NO I haven’t. I can’t even rememeber what I’ve read. I need a little friend like Olivia to remind me. You sure have a lot of companions. There’s Billy, Olivia, Mike W. Am I missing anyone? Oh yeah! Hamburger!
.-= Ti´s last blog ..Winners! =-.
I’m a total cover whore as well, and it makes me happy to hear a book with a pretty cover is as good as it promises
Also, Olivia is adorable.
.-= Nymeth´s last blog ..Henrietta’s War by Joyce Dennys =-.
But what does Billy think of it?
.-= heidenkind´s last blog ..Appealing/Appalling Victorians =-.
So glad you enjoyed your Unbridled book. I liked the sound of this one too , and the lovely cover, but couldn’t find a copy.
.-= Cat´s last blog ..Library Loot =-.
I liked this book as well when I read it last year. Thanks for the refresher in the form of a review –great job.
.-= diane´s last blog ..What an Animal Challenge III – 2010 =-.
wow! this is the second blog i visited tonight that is featuring a book for ‘spotlight series’–i love the concept!
i’m not sure if i’m up to reading it right now–i need some uplifting and light stuff–but your review has me guessing about the ‘alternative burial’. glad you enjoyed this one.
I am sure, I would have not picked this one up. Birds.. no way.
But I do LOVE the cover and I am also a cover whore LOL.. what a word!
But your review does make it sound different and something that needs to be read. I will definitely put this in my list!
Thank YOU! And this is a great series.
.-= veens´s last blog ..Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure by Allan Richard Shickman =-.
Love Olivia!! Like you, I am a cover whore–I immediately liked this cover too!
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Book Review: Chelsea Chelsea, Bang Bang =-.
I’m glad that you loved this one. It was definitely a fav of mine. I t was so beautiful and complex. I remember it being a book that I had to take my time with and savor. I loved the issues the author examined and her approach to the story. Unbridled has some great books.
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Arcadia Falls, by Carol Goodman – Book Review =-.
Now you’ve done it! I love reviews that tempt me enough to go find what looks to be a really good read without giving away the best parts. Thanks so much for a good discussion.
Oh, I loved IN HOVERING FLIGHT! Unbridled Books is one of a handful of publishers who I gravitate to, without knowing anything about a particular book; they have that many ‘winners’.
I often feel that way about Algonquin books and Farrar Straus Giroux. LOL, you’re not the only cover whore!
.-= Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books´s last blog ..Book review: *The Girl Who Fell from the Sky* by Heidi W. Durrow =-.
Great review! I read this book last month and I really enjoyed it. The prose was beautiful, and the story was well crafted.