Yellow-Billed Magpie

Neniu kovrilo — Yellow-Billed Magpie (2015, Butterfly Tree Publishing)

Eldonita je 2-a de aŭgusto 2015 de Butterfly Tree Publishing.

ISBN:: 978-0-692-44573-0

(1 recenzo)

Unlike their black-billed cousins, yellow-billed magpies are rarely found outside California’s central valley. So when they begin showing up in Samantha O’Malley’s dreams, she wonders: are they calling me home? Disappointed by failed fertility treatments and the break-up of her marriage, Samantha returns to her home town and slips into old habits, resuming her teaching career, even hooking up with an old lover. But she also renews her friendship with Craig, the school custodian she honors as her spiritual guide. The work they do together with Samantha’s special education students will lead her to discoveries she never thought possible. Yellow-billed Magpie is a love story, a spiritual journey, a quest to look beyond appearances to the mystical rhythms that guide the human heart.

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Yellow-Billed Magpie de Nancy Schoellkopf

Strong spiritual elements

4 steloj

Yellow-billed Magpie is very different to my usual reading fare in its style so I was interested to discover the world that Schoellkopf creates for her characters. The story has strong spiritual elements and I was particularly taken with the repeated dream sequence motif in which Samantha envisages herself as various animals. Although brief, these scenes are beautifully vivid.

When awake, Samantha's life is dominated by her attempts to understand her place and role in life, and to establish a loving and rewarding romantic relationship. Initially we see her leaving her materialistic marriage and returning to much of her pre-married life by buying a house in her old town and restarting her employment as a special needs teacher. I liked the exploration of questions raised by her decision. Is this a backward step to the ease of familiarity or the completion of a circle to where Samantha can be strong …

Yellow-billed Magpie is very different to my usual reading fare in its style so I was interested to discover the world that Schoellkopf creates for her characters. The story has strong spiritual elements and I was particularly taken with the repeated dream sequence motif in which Samantha envisages herself as various animals. Although brief, these scenes are beautifully vivid.

When awake, Samantha's life is dominated by her attempts to understand her place and role in life, and to establish a loving and rewarding romantic relationship. Initially we see her leaving her materialistic marriage and returning to much of her pre-married life by buying a house in her old town and restarting her employment as a special needs teacher. I liked the exploration of questions raised by her decision. Is this a backward step to the ease of familiarity or the completion of a circle to where Samantha can be strong again? We are witnesses to much of Samantha's inner voice and her perpetual questioning does slow the novel's pace which might frustrate some readers, but at the same time this insight gives a deeper, thoughtful layer to the story.

Samantha does have serious self-esteem issues and I was disappointed that she needs so much male validation in order to appreciate her talents. Despite being a teacher herself, she reverts to pupil status when interacting with the significant men in her life. I also felt the men sometimes leant towards being caricatures, illustrative of certain types, rather than being fully-evoked in every sense. Craig in particular irritated me immensely as, despite his apparent spiritual advancement, he is very patronising! Yellow-billed Magpie did appeal to me on a deeper level than I expected from its synopsis and encouraged me to think about which elements of my life are especially important. I am now looking forward to revisiting the Easter Family in its sequel, Red-tailed Hawk.