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Borrowed Wings
How do you start again when your world has been torn in two? How do you move on when disaster follows like a shadow? Billie Skylark is trying, and Jack Kelly would like to know.
Following the conclusion of Skylark; Billie must find her way forward and Jack must find his way back.
In a world changed by fate and loss, the community of St. Cloud strives to find solace in love, friendship and new life. As Billie struggles out from the confines of Evan’s shadow, Jack fights to avoid the truth. But the future they try to build is threatened by the arrival of Jack’s brother Raife, whose presence forces open the Pandora’s box of Jack’s past. While Billie faces life alone, Jack must deal with the repercussions of death.
The small community are buffeted by St. Cloud storms, and life mirrors the islands dramatic weather. Dan finds himself helpless; forced to hurt those he loves most, Sadie has a secret that threatens her future with Jed, and Virginia faces a truth that turns her world upside down.
Borrowed Wings is the highly anticipated conclusion to Ruthie Morgan’s award winning debut novel, Skylark.
Following the conclusion of Skylark; Billie must find her way forward and Jack must find his way back.
In a world changed by fate and loss, the community of St. Cloud strives to find solace in love, friendship and new life. As Billie struggles out from the confines of Evan’s shadow, Jack fights to avoid the truth. But the future they try to build is threatened by the arrival of Jack’s brother Raife, whose presence forces open the Pandora’s box of Jack’s past. While Billie faces life alone, Jack must deal with the repercussions of death.
The small community are buffeted by St. Cloud storms, and life mirrors the islands dramatic weather. Dan finds himself helpless; forced to hurt those he loves most, Sadie has a secret that threatens her future with Jed, and Virginia faces a truth that turns her world upside down.
Borrowed Wings is the highly anticipated conclusion to Ruthie Morgan’s award winning debut novel, Skylark.
337 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 21, 2017
The sequel to the award winning 'Skylark', Borrowed Wings continues where Skylark left off. Billie must find her way forward and Jack must find his way back. But this time the secondary characters from the first book get into the spotlight much more, and that is a good thing. The great thing is this is a book that pretty much everyone can (and will) enjoy. It is funny, tender, thoughtful and thought-provoking - as the layered meanings run deep in this book. This isn't Fargo. It is something more tender and beautiful. It is a book you will think about long after you close the cover.
August 28, 2016
Skylark was my favorite Indie book read of last year. The sweeping journey of Evan and Billie Skylark from Paris to Scotland to tiny St. Cloud in the Pacific is lovely, poetic, and gut-wrenching. Therefore, I was extremely excited to see that the sequel, Borrowed Wings, was released this month.
Borrowed Wings continues where Skylark left off. Billie is back in Scotland with her twin toddlers, Sunny and Evie, grieving for all that went wrong in St. Cloud. She misses the friends she made there, especially Jack, her neighbor who was always a solid presence in her life when Evan couldn't support her and the children.
The people in St. Cloud also has their stories. Jack is dealing with his family: his mother has senility issues, there is an ongoing dispute with his father, his oldest brother Saul is trying to deal with their parents and his wife's pregnancy, and his other brother, Raife, is an ongoing grief and sorrow in Jack's life.
Jed and Sadie have secrets, Zoe and Felix are expecting, and Dan is struggling with his place at the core of the islander's lives.
The story is told in multiple POVs: Billie is first person and the rest of the people in St. Cloud in third person. It jumps around but always in a linear fashion that moves the story forward. It is a beautifully written story, one to be savored and slowly digested. I'm a fast reader, but I took my time with this book, dreading the coming ending just as Billie does in the story with The Grapes of Wrath. There is a lot to ponder here.
Ms. Morgan covers diverse topics such as motherhood, grief, aging parents, friendships, and sibling feuds and weaves the strands into the story effortlessly. The ultimate question of the book is one Billie asks herself throughout the book: "Do I deserve two great loves in one short lifetime? Is there room in my packed heart for the love Jack deserves when Evan will always rest there? " Billie yearns for Jack but doesn't want to make the same mistakes that she made with Evan. Jack himself must resolve his family issues before he can move on with Billie.
Borrowed Wings is one of those stories that stay with you for a while, coming back at odd moments as something in your life reminds you of a paragraph in the book. Because isn't life all about love after all?
Borrowed Wings continues where Skylark left off. Billie is back in Scotland with her twin toddlers, Sunny and Evie, grieving for all that went wrong in St. Cloud. She misses the friends she made there, especially Jack, her neighbor who was always a solid presence in her life when Evan couldn't support her and the children.
The people in St. Cloud also has their stories. Jack is dealing with his family: his mother has senility issues, there is an ongoing dispute with his father, his oldest brother Saul is trying to deal with their parents and his wife's pregnancy, and his other brother, Raife, is an ongoing grief and sorrow in Jack's life.
Jed and Sadie have secrets, Zoe and Felix are expecting, and Dan is struggling with his place at the core of the islander's lives.
The story is told in multiple POVs: Billie is first person and the rest of the people in St. Cloud in third person. It jumps around but always in a linear fashion that moves the story forward. It is a beautifully written story, one to be savored and slowly digested. I'm a fast reader, but I took my time with this book, dreading the coming ending just as Billie does in the story with The Grapes of Wrath. There is a lot to ponder here.
Ms. Morgan covers diverse topics such as motherhood, grief, aging parents, friendships, and sibling feuds and weaves the strands into the story effortlessly. The ultimate question of the book is one Billie asks herself throughout the book: "Do I deserve two great loves in one short lifetime? Is there room in my packed heart for the love Jack deserves when Evan will always rest there? " Billie yearns for Jack but doesn't want to make the same mistakes that she made with Evan. Jack himself must resolve his family issues before he can move on with Billie.
Borrowed Wings is one of those stories that stay with you for a while, coming back at odd moments as something in your life reminds you of a paragraph in the book. Because isn't life all about love after all?
November 15, 2016
I do so love a book with a whole bunch of drama and characters that leap off the page! With her new book Borrowed Wings, author Ruthie Morgan continues the engaging story she began in her first book, Skylark. When I read Skylark earlier last year, Morgan blew me away with her characters, story, humour and emotion. So, it's no surprise that I jumped at the chance to read the sequel.
This second book is very much an ensemble piece. While the first book focused on the tumultuous relationship of Billie and Evan, this time around Morgan broadens her scope and allows the secondary characters from Skylark to take up the reigns. The story is told in a linear style but the multiple points of view give the reader better insight into the lives and struggles of various residents of St Cloud.
Billie, the main character in Skylark, continues to tell her story in Borrowed Wings but I liked that she isn't always front and centre. Her story is told in the first person so readers get to see how she's faring after returning to St Cloud and facing the memories that await her. I liked witnessing her transformation from the darkness of loss and struggling to get her life back on track to figuring out who she is without her recently deceased husband.
St Cloud is a small, tropical island community where everyone knows everyone ... or do they? I enjoyed getting to know these secondary characters better and witnessing their joy and camaraderie and sharing in their heartbreak and tears. This book plays out like a big, emotional family drama complete with loss, redemption, love and a renewed sense of hope for the future. People who enjoy ensemble casts, be it in TV (like Parenthood or This Is Us) or in books (like Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series) will enjoy this series where secondary characters are given time to shine and bring their unique issues to the forefront.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book there were a couple of things that niggled at me. First, while I had a recollection about the bond that Billie shared with Jack in the first book, I felt that their connection in this book was assumed rather than shown. I wanted to see and remember why they had such a close relationship. Also, I found it difficult at times to keep track of some of the characters. There's a lot going on with multiple characters/relationships within several story lines. I ended up making a little cheat sheet to help me remember who was dating/married to whom, careers etc since it had been over a year since I had read the first book. I didn't need the sheet for long but in the beginning, it was very helpful.
Morgan is a beautifully descriptive writer who brings her readers into the heart of this small community, its residents and their own personal self journeys. She doesn't shy away from big topics or Kleenex worthy scenes such as: loss, life after loss, dealing with aging parents and sibling discord. Morgan balances these heavier topics by weaving her wicked sense of humour into her characters and their camaraderie which gives readers a clear sense of community on this small island.
While Skylark was about the complexities of relationships with a nod to the darker aspects of love Borrowed Wings brings the story full circle and has a more redemptive, hopeful feel to it. This book is about the strength of friends and family - in all its varied forms - and finding one's way to fulfillment and happiness.
Note: I highly recommend reading Skylark first to understand the depth of Billie's feelings and loss as well as the relationships between the residents of St Cloud.
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to author Ruthie Morgan for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
This second book is very much an ensemble piece. While the first book focused on the tumultuous relationship of Billie and Evan, this time around Morgan broadens her scope and allows the secondary characters from Skylark to take up the reigns. The story is told in a linear style but the multiple points of view give the reader better insight into the lives and struggles of various residents of St Cloud.
Billie, the main character in Skylark, continues to tell her story in Borrowed Wings but I liked that she isn't always front and centre. Her story is told in the first person so readers get to see how she's faring after returning to St Cloud and facing the memories that await her. I liked witnessing her transformation from the darkness of loss and struggling to get her life back on track to figuring out who she is without her recently deceased husband.
St Cloud is a small, tropical island community where everyone knows everyone ... or do they? I enjoyed getting to know these secondary characters better and witnessing their joy and camaraderie and sharing in their heartbreak and tears. This book plays out like a big, emotional family drama complete with loss, redemption, love and a renewed sense of hope for the future. People who enjoy ensemble casts, be it in TV (like Parenthood or This Is Us) or in books (like Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series) will enjoy this series where secondary characters are given time to shine and bring their unique issues to the forefront.
While I thoroughly enjoyed this book there were a couple of things that niggled at me. First, while I had a recollection about the bond that Billie shared with Jack in the first book, I felt that their connection in this book was assumed rather than shown. I wanted to see and remember why they had such a close relationship. Also, I found it difficult at times to keep track of some of the characters. There's a lot going on with multiple characters/relationships within several story lines. I ended up making a little cheat sheet to help me remember who was dating/married to whom, careers etc since it had been over a year since I had read the first book. I didn't need the sheet for long but in the beginning, it was very helpful.
Morgan is a beautifully descriptive writer who brings her readers into the heart of this small community, its residents and their own personal self journeys. She doesn't shy away from big topics or Kleenex worthy scenes such as: loss, life after loss, dealing with aging parents and sibling discord. Morgan balances these heavier topics by weaving her wicked sense of humour into her characters and their camaraderie which gives readers a clear sense of community on this small island.
While Skylark was about the complexities of relationships with a nod to the darker aspects of love Borrowed Wings brings the story full circle and has a more redemptive, hopeful feel to it. This book is about the strength of friends and family - in all its varied forms - and finding one's way to fulfillment and happiness.
Note: I highly recommend reading Skylark first to understand the depth of Billie's feelings and loss as well as the relationships between the residents of St Cloud.
Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to author Ruthie Morgan for providing me with a complimentary e-book copy of her book in exchange for my honest review.
August 21, 2016
Ruthie Morgan’s writing can only be described as exquisite. The quality of the writing is up there with the best modern writers.
The book took me about 5 days to read rather than my usual 2. It is so richly descriptive that I needed to read it slowly and digest it page by page. I don’t like a lot of description and prefer a fast moving plot but Morgan manages to describe feelings, places or even everyday life in a way that is palpable and moving. I often found myself reading sentences and paragraphs again because they were so very beautiful or evocative.
Here’s a typical example of the rich prose which you will find on every page.
“The bush drips and vibrates with rain. I imagine I can hear the celebration of all those palms and vines as they drink and bathe, lavishing their leaves and roots in the joy of monsoon. Aside from the grey, weighty feel of the skies and the damp air, there’s something else, something quite beautiful. Life becomes a fluid watercolour image of itself. Details are blurred and the edges of form uncontained.”
The story starts with a prologue that is so beautiful and moving that I read it to my friend, my husband and each of my kids asking each of them “ How can anyone write like this?”. It was so perfect it more or less made my literary year, I’d reproduce it here but it is a huge spoiler for anyone who hasn’t read Skylark yet.
The book reads like a literary epic and is more of a journey story than a romance. It is MPV across Billie, Jack and their friends and it details multiple life journeys in all their mundanity and challenges. Reading the story is a bit like driving a car around the island roads described in the book, twisting and doubling back, climbing and descending. It is pitch perfect although some readers such as myself will mourn the departure from Skylark’s dramatic romance to a different kind of book.
I would describe the book as having a level of steady intensity whereas Skylark was intense and consuming. For some this will be an issue but it is still a wonderful read, a journey through many lives encompassing joy, sorrow, understanding and rebirth.
Morgan also has an incredible strength in nailing how and what people think. Her characters seem natural and their internal thoughts and fears are so relatable. From the off the cuff realisations we experience in everyday life to the deep underlying drivers for our behaviour, Morgan imbues her characters with every man authenticity (particularly 'every Mum').
My negatives on the story are not enough connection between Billie and Jack (although I can understand why the author chose this route in light of the Evan storyline) and a kind of one speed plot, readable and satisfying but it felt to me that when the dramatic events occurred that they were inevitable and lacked something visceral. I also found the beginning a little flat as understandably, everyone struggled to come to terms with the events that played out in Skylark.
My advice, if you enjoyed Skylark, Borrowed Wings is definitely worth your time.
If you haven't read Skylark and love a stunning romance with an all too realistic dark side then you are missing out.
If you love to read a really good writer whose books comment on the human condition then this is also a must read.
The book took me about 5 days to read rather than my usual 2. It is so richly descriptive that I needed to read it slowly and digest it page by page. I don’t like a lot of description and prefer a fast moving plot but Morgan manages to describe feelings, places or even everyday life in a way that is palpable and moving. I often found myself reading sentences and paragraphs again because they were so very beautiful or evocative.
Here’s a typical example of the rich prose which you will find on every page.
“The bush drips and vibrates with rain. I imagine I can hear the celebration of all those palms and vines as they drink and bathe, lavishing their leaves and roots in the joy of monsoon. Aside from the grey, weighty feel of the skies and the damp air, there’s something else, something quite beautiful. Life becomes a fluid watercolour image of itself. Details are blurred and the edges of form uncontained.”
The story starts with a prologue that is so beautiful and moving that I read it to my friend, my husband and each of my kids asking each of them “ How can anyone write like this?”. It was so perfect it more or less made my literary year, I’d reproduce it here but it is a huge spoiler for anyone who hasn’t read Skylark yet.
The book reads like a literary epic and is more of a journey story than a romance. It is MPV across Billie, Jack and their friends and it details multiple life journeys in all their mundanity and challenges. Reading the story is a bit like driving a car around the island roads described in the book, twisting and doubling back, climbing and descending. It is pitch perfect although some readers such as myself will mourn the departure from Skylark’s dramatic romance to a different kind of book.
I would describe the book as having a level of steady intensity whereas Skylark was intense and consuming. For some this will be an issue but it is still a wonderful read, a journey through many lives encompassing joy, sorrow, understanding and rebirth.
Morgan also has an incredible strength in nailing how and what people think. Her characters seem natural and their internal thoughts and fears are so relatable. From the off the cuff realisations we experience in everyday life to the deep underlying drivers for our behaviour, Morgan imbues her characters with every man authenticity (particularly 'every Mum').
My negatives on the story are not enough connection between Billie and Jack (although I can understand why the author chose this route in light of the Evan storyline) and a kind of one speed plot, readable and satisfying but it felt to me that when the dramatic events occurred that they were inevitable and lacked something visceral. I also found the beginning a little flat as understandably, everyone struggled to come to terms with the events that played out in Skylark.
My advice, if you enjoyed Skylark, Borrowed Wings is definitely worth your time.
If you haven't read Skylark and love a stunning romance with an all too realistic dark side then you are missing out.
If you love to read a really good writer whose books comment on the human condition then this is also a must read.
August 22, 2016
"I'm not giving you the sugar-coated version sweetie, you're too smart for that. Love's complicated, hell is that ever truth." He runs a hand through his hair.
"Is it wrong?"
He looks surprised. "How can it be? Love's never wrong," he pauses to rub his temples, "although it can sure feel like that way sometimes."
~Excerpt from a conversation between Dan and Billie
Billie is widowed after her husband jumps off a cliff and is so stricken with grief that she can barely function but is also torn because while she was married to Evan, she was in love with Jack, the guy who lives next door. She really did love Evan and misses him terribly but is still drawn to Jack.
Jack has his own demons. He's in love with Billie, too but he's got a bigger problem to deal with. His brother, Raife, who is a musician in the United States, needs to come home to visit their mother who is not well. Raife is in trouble all of the time and getting him back to St. Cloud wasn't as hard as having him there.
Jack and Raife have some serious issues to work out. But can they do it without killing each other first?
There is so much drama in this book. The primary characters are Billie and Jack and I was cheering for them while sharing their frustrations. But there are other characters in the story who captured me, too. Sadie and Jed, Virginia (I related to her in a big way), Felix and Zoe, Saul and Jess, and, of course, Dan. All of their stories moved me and made me cry on a few occasions.
This book is the sequel to "Skylark" and is incredibly good. The reason I gave it four stars is because it needs one more trip to the editor. Janie was spelled two different ways, there were a few instances of the wrong word being used, and needs commas properly placed.
Overall, a truly great read.
*I recommend reading the book, "Skylark" before reading this one. This can be a standalone novel but it would be better understood if the reader knew who Evan Skylark was and what he was about.
*I received this book from the author in return for an honest review.
"Is it wrong?"
He looks surprised. "How can it be? Love's never wrong," he pauses to rub his temples, "although it can sure feel like that way sometimes."
~Excerpt from a conversation between Dan and Billie
Billie is widowed after her husband jumps off a cliff and is so stricken with grief that she can barely function but is also torn because while she was married to Evan, she was in love with Jack, the guy who lives next door. She really did love Evan and misses him terribly but is still drawn to Jack.
Jack has his own demons. He's in love with Billie, too but he's got a bigger problem to deal with. His brother, Raife, who is a musician in the United States, needs to come home to visit their mother who is not well. Raife is in trouble all of the time and getting him back to St. Cloud wasn't as hard as having him there.
Jack and Raife have some serious issues to work out. But can they do it without killing each other first?
There is so much drama in this book. The primary characters are Billie and Jack and I was cheering for them while sharing their frustrations. But there are other characters in the story who captured me, too. Sadie and Jed, Virginia (I related to her in a big way), Felix and Zoe, Saul and Jess, and, of course, Dan. All of their stories moved me and made me cry on a few occasions.
This book is the sequel to "Skylark" and is incredibly good. The reason I gave it four stars is because it needs one more trip to the editor. Janie was spelled two different ways, there were a few instances of the wrong word being used, and needs commas properly placed.
Overall, a truly great read.
*I recommend reading the book, "Skylark" before reading this one. This can be a standalone novel but it would be better understood if the reader knew who Evan Skylark was and what he was about.
*I received this book from the author in return for an honest review.
November 29, 2019
I love this author’s writing. It is really, really beautiful. I got this book because I loved her first book, Skylark, but this book was a bit of a disappointment for two reasons. First, the story just wasn’t as interesting. The first book was about Billie’s exciting but always up-and-down relationship with Evan, and it was interesting because I have lived crazy people, and I know both how miserable they can make you and how exciting they can be. This book is about the development of Billie’s the less-than-exciting (though no doubt healthier and more stable) relationship with Jack (the brooding type rather than wildly manic type). But it’s not only about that relationship. If it was, I still might have really enjoyed it. This book is also about the various dramas in the lives of all the other characters in the book. Any of those dramas on their own might very well have made a very good story, but having to follow all of them at the same time made me feel like the author was being a little heavy-handed. And the reader was dragged through the whole book trying to figure out WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN JACK AND RAIFE, and also, as the book went on, WHY WAS DAN SO INVOLVED IN IT? It’s not a bad thing to keep the reader in suspense, but this felt... again, the word that fits is heavy-handed.
The other reason for my 3-star rating is what was either a lack of, or poorly done copy editing. I will forgive a missed word here and there, but only a couple. This has way more than a couple, along with a major comma problem. The missing commas sometimes led to sentences as confusing as the title of that grammar book “Eats Shoots & Leaves.” When something is repetitive enough that it repeatedly interrupts the flow of reading, I feel like that’s a justifiable reason for lowering the rating.
This author is still a very good writer; I just didn’t like the story as much and I definitely didn’t like the editor.
The other reason for my 3-star rating is what was either a lack of, or poorly done copy editing. I will forgive a missed word here and there, but only a couple. This has way more than a couple, along with a major comma problem. The missing commas sometimes led to sentences as confusing as the title of that grammar book “Eats Shoots & Leaves.” When something is repetitive enough that it repeatedly interrupts the flow of reading, I feel like that’s a justifiable reason for lowering the rating.
This author is still a very good writer; I just didn’t like the story as much and I definitely didn’t like the editor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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