Bird

by Sophie Cunningham

Ana-Sofia's mother was Anna Davidoo - "Bird" - wartime refugee, fifties moview starlet, sixties party girl and drug-charged acolyte of the jazz greats. Anna abandoned her daughter to take vows as a Buddhist nun.Now at the age Anna was when she died, Ana-Sofia feels the need to return to India and Nepal, to confront ghosts of the past, and those who loved her mother. To find out who Anna was and how, in the end, she achieved her peace.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

266 pages

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sophie Cunningham is the author of six books including City of Trees: Essays on Life, Death and the Need for a Forest (Text, 2020). She is also the editor of the collection Fire, Flood, Plague: Australian writers respond to 2020 (Vintage, 2020).

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some minor quibbles aside, it’s an interesting tale because it explores the inter-generational effects of a war-damaged childhood. I like the way Az is rendered as an optimistic character who can accept the deficiencies of her parent without blaming her, and then ‘moves on’. ‘Bird’ herself is an exotic creature of the imagination, flitting from man to man and one career to another (including 1950s movie starlet, ’60s junkie party girl and (as you might well guess from her nickname) a singer who hangs out with the jazz greats. She seems incredibly sexy and free-spirited which is why it seems so bizarre that she should end up with a shaved head and monk’s robes.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2008/12/12/b...

[Agatha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a slow start for me, despite investment in the characters and the narrative. Devastating second half brought it all together.

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The characters were caricatures. The mother was hedonistic, the daughter I could not like. The Tibetan monk as a narrator did not work for me.

[Jules · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story jumped from time and perspective a little too much for my liking, and I found myself confused at some stages. Some perspectives/voices were stronger than others; I feel I didn't connect with the narrator at all, I'm not sure how successful the Tibetan monk's point of view was, I enjoyed the glamour of Anna's movie star world but it didn't feel genuine.
I found this a mostly enjoyable read, but probably wouldn't re-read.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling novel about mothers and daughters, hunger and desire, understanding our loved ones and how their lives affect ours.