Winter Birds

by Jim Grimsley

In Jim Grimsley's remarkable first novel, Winter Birds, Danny Crell tells himself his own story, and in doing so illuminates the heartbreaking story of his father's violent tyranny over his mother, his sister, and his three younger brothers.

The novel begins on Thanksgiving in rural North Carolina in a broken-down cottage the Crell children have nicknamed "The Circle House." Ellen Crell's attempts at a family meal are thwarted and finally disastrously ruined when Bobjay draws her into a violent quarrel. It leads to a chase wherein Bobjay is the hunter, Ellen the prey, and their five children are caught in between.

Winter Birds is a haunting, unforgettable portrait of an American family shattered by violence, and of the lengths a woman will go to keep her family whole.

Genres: Fiction, LGBT, Gay, Queer, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Gay Fiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Jim Grimsley published a new novel in May of 2022, The Dove in the Belly, out from Levine Querido. The book is a look at the past when queer people lived more hidden lives than now. Grimsley was born in rural eastern North Carolina. He has published short stories and essays in various quarterlies, including DoubleTake, New Orleans Review, Carolina Quarterly, New Virginia Review, the LA Times, and the New York Times Book Review. Jim’s first novel Winter Birds, was published in the United States by Algonquin Books in the fall of 1994. Winter Birds won the Sue Kaufman Prize for best first novel from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. He has published other novels, including Dream Boy, Kirith Kirin, and My Drowning. His books are available in Hebrew, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Japanese, and Portuguese. He has also published a collection of plays and most recently a memoir, How I Shed My Skin. His body of work as a prose writer and playwright was awarded the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2005. For twenty years he taught writing at Emory University in Atlanta.

Reviews

[LenaRibka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Grimsley 's Winter Birds is one of the most painful, moving and at the same time one of the most poetic, poignant piece of literature I've ever read. The first what came to my mind if I should describe it in one sentence- Winter Birds is a beautifully written gut-wrenching powerful story that will break your heart.

Jim Grimsley is a writing genius.

A début novel of Jim Grimsley, Winter Birds, is a prequel to Comfort and Joy, tells the story of Dan's childhood and lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding a Circle House and a dark history of Dan's family that have not been actually clarified/explained in Comfort and Joy.

Considering the chronological order and the release dates one should read Winter Birds BEFORE Comfort and Joy, BUT I would recommend to read it in a wrong order: If you have not yet read both of the novels, start with Comfort and Joy. I am firmly convinced that you have to read Comfort and Joy being virgin, knowing NOTHING about the two main characters, without any emotional burden.


And now you're wondering why I gave only 4 stars?

***The second person POV. I understand that probably this kind of telling is responsible for the singularity of narrating- like an adult Dan is talking to a boy Danny, over the time, but I personally found it strange and first had to get used to it.

***Not everyone knows that Winter Bird was rejected by American publishers for 10 years, because they saw it as a grim, hopeless story. And in 1992, a German publisher who was familiar with Grimsley's plays, published it under the German title Wintervögel . In the United States, Winter Birds was finally published in 1994, and won the 1995 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

So, I was inspired to read it in German (and a bit proud too). Unfortunately the German version was a disappointment for me: the second person POV and the present tense that I can good handle in English but not in German + I think the translation doesn't reproduce the writing very authentically. It's why after 15% I decided to switch to the original language. I'm glad that it was a German publisher who recognized an uniqueness of Jim Grimsley's writing skills, but I'm happy that I could read it further in English.

The bottom line: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! But read first Comfort and Joy!

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent flowing narrative which drew me in and made me continue wanting to read with nary a gaze at the remaining percentage as is my wont in difficult reads. I consider this a major feat when considering the subject matter.

A never ending cycle of violence. Here we walk a bit with Mae Ellen and her children as they trudge this circle. Longing to escape. Hoping to break the circle, unable to. Difficult for me, an outsider to understand what keeps one tied to such a destructive relationship. This book opened the door and let me peek in to see. A mixture of love, dreams, wishes, past ties, family history, young children, poverty, the tugs and pulls of co-dependency. Easy to preach from the outside, not so easy to live when you are inside.

BR with Maya, Lena and Irina - thread link here

[Amina · Rating 3 out of 5]

✰ 3.25 stars ✰

​ “You don’t even know enough to be afraid.​”

​

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Jim Grimsley's debut novel Winter Birds -- harrowing and disheartening and distressing. A short read, but it packs a punch - literally. ​Reading fiction written in second person can be hard to grasp, but so beautifully gripping with a dreamy feel to it, that it leaves you unbalanced, but still so present in the horrors that you are witnessing unfold. As if you you are eight-year-old Danny Crell, watching and hurting, that his struggles with hemophilia become your own - his desire to escape to a loving and caring and gentler dream - your own.​ 😥

I don't know what powers led me to read this on Christmas, save that I've had it with me on my tbr since 2022, and it was short...

Some decisions you live to regret...​ 😔

​“You moved into the Circle House at the beginning of November. You will live in it only for the one winter. But you will remember this house better than any of the ones that come after it...”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ It is the author's innate ability to build upon the tension and the unease and fear that he excels at​ - the foreboding that everything will change from here on that drives it to be such a compelling read. That feeling of impending doom, of something about to implode​. 😞 'The circle is a wheel, you are under the center, the hub is an eye looking down as you look up.'​ The way he steadily builds up the worsening conditions of the Crell family's life - how he peels off the layers of Bobjay's abusive and alcoholic ways,​ the uneasy feeling of being trapped within their own home, building up to a crescendo that is unable to be held off​ is something truly praiseworthy, and I do commend him on that count. 👍🏻

“I wish I could go to sleep and not wake up, no matter how loud he yells. Except then I'd be scared to wake up and see what he did when I was asleep.”

​​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ​The narrative's unique writing style skillfully navigates the swell of emotions that makes me feel the very same nature of helplessness and hopelessness for the family, during their father's volatile and violent rages. The shared love and concern between Danny and his siblings for their Mama, the fear and anger they feel for their father -​ 'your Papa is too scared to hurt anybody but us​' - the longing for just a chance of not having to worry or cower in the fear of what could set him off - all alone, without protection, save each other​ - a watchful, but intensely tense image that remains throughout. 😢

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ​The bond of silent understanding between the four siblings - Amy, Danny, Allen, and Grove - was also vividly captured, but in such subtle gestures that you just had to believe in it; the stubborn, but quiet rebellious resilience they fostered to protect each other resonated deeply throughout. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 I know it is not the first story that shows how a family is imprisoned in their suffering - how a wife and a mother fights to protect her family, keep the monster at bay for the sake of her​ younguns; but, there is only so much they ​can control, before he ​does​ get out of control.​ 😟

“The more you watch her the more you feel dread yourself, and even when she tries to smile you feel afraid, though you don’t know why.”

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ The ending... unforgivable. What happened to Queenie - unspeakable.​ So painful, my heart broke. The lack of closure to Bobjay's​ horrific violence and abuse. 🙁 It is those times where I don't ​want​ to understand how it could be set aside​, even though I do understand the helpless, if not hopeless state Ellen found herself in. The uncertain ambiguity of his shocking and disturbing actions, one that the words don't seem to form right or I just want to read between the lines...​ 🥺💔💔

​ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ Because I am afraid of what it could mean, and maybe I don't want to know, and ​just wish it could​ be a nightmare I can wake up from. Jim Grimsley has power in his words, but the heartache that comes with it, I wish I could undo it​ - 'Besides,​ one kind of bird is as good as another.​' I hope that there truly is some Comfort and Joy in the follow-up sequel to Danny's story. I don't know I can forgive the way it ended, without knowing that there is some comeuppance to ​such a traumatic ​and heartbreaking ordeal​. 😔

[Maya · Rating 5 out of 5]

As you walk you dread the things you have learned to dread: your Papa, your special blood, anything that shakes it. You place each step carefully so you do not fall.

Winter Birds is haunting, and painful to read but so beautifully written I couldn't put it down.

Grown-up Danny tells this story to 8 years old Danny and this allowed some distance but at the same time made me feel as if he was telling the story to me.

Danny and his four siblings live in extreme poverty with an alcoholic and abusive father and a loving but very unhappy mother. Moving from house to house in desperate attempts for new beginning, the family ends up meeting Thanksgiving in the Circle House where ”doors opened in a circle and you could walk from room to room forever”.

Just like that house, their lives rotate in a never ending circle of violence, fear and helplessness, and temporary peace and regrets. What happens on that Thanksgiving is the most severe violence this family has suffered but still that cycle could not be broken. There is no escape for any of them.

Danny tries to hide from the horror by creating his own fantasy world where there’s someone who truly cares for him and his family doesn’t exist. Because of his blood decease he’d been close to dying and now he often dreams of the peace and quiet of that place where he can't hear or feel anything.

What made this book so haunting for me was that Jim Grimsley didn’t stop at just telling me about Danny’s dreams. He gave me a clear vison of them by painting a picture with red blood and white snow.

And then watching Danny’s mom, Ellen, giving her all to protect her kids from the violence and trying to pull back Danny from his safe white place was beyond heartbreaking. Just like her, I feared he may not want to return.

Very powerful book.

BR with Sofia, Lena and Irina here.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't ever remember having such a heavy heart while reading a book.



I cry in despair for every woman and mother in the world that has to go through this in her life. I cry for every child whose childhood had been stolen before it began. I cry for every grown-up person who has such dark past and carries it till the end. I cry rivers.

Can't even discuss it right now - too painful. Especially knowing that the author's story was similar to Danny's.

The only thing that helps coping with this book is the knowledge from the sequence that the poor Mother had freed herself from the monster and even re-married again. That's my huge consolation. Along with the fact that Danny has learned how to love and trust in the future. And most importantly, he had a future itself too.

Absolutely heartbreaking.

***5 stars***

BR with my girls ~ thank you!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love stories that make me feel, this broke my heart.It was told from the narrorators perspective. I loved the writing style and the originality. I love how the brothers and sister stick together to keep each other safe. This is a terrible situation, when you have five kids to support how do you do it on your own? It really all depeneds on what kind of support you have, where you live, and the era you were living in. Odds were agaisnt this family. They had no where to go and had to endure all of this pain. I felt the mom to be as strong as one can be in these situations. Her main concern was her children. This easy to read in the sense that the words flowed so effortessly and had a poetic quality to them. I also felt it was hard to read because of the terrible situation. A lot of situations were also implied but never described, almost like he kept it pg-13. I loved the honesty of the narrorator. He didn't always understand what was going on but the author didn't make him a hero like in a lot of books. The main character was afraid, introverted. Kept to himself. And when you grow up and see this kind of violence as oppose to love naturally you will harbor some negative feelings yourself. The main character was gloomy, very sad. Some people shy away from sad stories but they are beautiful in their own way. This was a beautiful story.

[☕Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I wish I could go to sleep and not wake up, no matter how loud he yells. Except then I'd be scared to wake up and see what he did when I was asleep." These lines sum up the sense of impending doom which pervade young Danny's life with an abusive, alcoholic father. In barely over 200 pages and with simple, subtle language, this book is able to elicit an incredible amount of emotion, from fear and horror to the love of Danny and his siblings for each other and for the loving but ineffectual mother who enables the life in which they are imprisoned. With no real escape open to him and no one to protect him, Danny loses himself in his imagination along the river bank, conjuring up River Man to protect him from the "golden lion". This is not an easy book to read, as there are some horrific acts of violence and abuse, but it is incredibly well-written. The author uses a second-person perspective which is unique and works quite well for this story. I highly recommend this book and will look for the later works of this author.

[Mel Bossa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny Crell tells himself a story...
It's a story that will haunt me for a very long time. Grimsley's Dream Boy had already scarred my soul, and I knew I'd be deeply moved and even disturbed by his first novel, Winter Birds.
Yes, it's another tale of poverty, misery, horrendous domestic abuse, alcoholism...But where Jim Grimsley gets you, is with the minutia of it. Every breath is there. Every second of the scene is accounted for. And before you know it, you are sitting there with Danny, Allen, Amy, and little Grove...Sitting there watching Daddy's truck coming up the road, its lights cutting through the snow. You can't leave those kids anymore. You almost feel responsible for them. You matter.
Strange thing to feel as a reader.
And that's the power of Grimsley.

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is heartbreakingly beautiful. I started this morning and absolutely could not put it down (granted it short at 209 pages it seems like it is just a bit longer than novella status).

The second person point of view took me a chapter or so to get used to reading, but once I was into it seemed the only way to tell this story. There is absolutely nothing new here...abuse, alcohol, and poverty go hand in hand and certainly the story that Grimsley tells (while sad) is nothing especially ground breaking. However, the way that he tells it is amazing. In part because of the use of second person. As Danny tells himself the story of his own childhood, he is reminding himself of things that he would rather not know; things that he would rather not remember. Through the second person, he is able to view these things as they happen to "you", not necessarily to himself.

Grimsley is a master at character development and while the whole story takes place on what is simply a very bad Thanksgiving in the Crell household, he is able to give us back ground on lots of people and places that influence the lives of the Crells. He paints a very vivid picture of their slide from Bobjay's job as foreman on Luther's farm to the current Circle house. We are able to emphathise with the children (and even Bobjay at times) as we see the inevitable pattern of bad event followed by over indulgence followed by drunken abuse followed by repentance.

I am usually hypercritical and was amazed that not only was this very old and simple tale so compelling, but that Grimsley managed to top himself with Bobjay's final act of cruelty towards Danny and Ellen.

Beautifully done.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an utterly captivating story of a poor family and an abusive father. Written in the second person, our narrator, one of several young children in this troubled family, tries to remove himself from his surroundings, as if he hopes for an out-of-body experience to get him away from the turmoil.

Yet the setting and events are so intimately described, from the snowfall to the details of his hemophilia, his siblings, and the subtle looks his mother offers as she endures her husband's drunken violence and threats; all are written in haunting and vivid descriptions.

[Hanan Buhadana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a hard time with this one. Beautifully written but a very difficult read.

[Joanka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wouldn’t say that the description of this novel does Winter Birds justice. In short, this is a heart-breaking and extremely well-written book about abuse. I have no idea if the there are any autobiographical themes in this novel (hopefully not) but either way, Jim Grimsley presents immense sensitivity and sharp observation skills while he writes about a “white trash family” with a father who drinks and beats his wife, expanding his violence on the whole family. The tension, the sadness and the awareness it is not always bad but the peace is fragile as finest china… The confusion, the love and union between the children themselves and their mother… When you start a novel like that you are prepared for depressive mood and yet, this book surprised me into crying in the moments I didn’t expect it to.

If I was not fully satisfied by something, it would be the ending. Obviously I didn’t expect any final resolution nor a happy ending, that would be not realistic, probably. Unfortunately. But I counted on some stronger accent after the whole escalation of violence and tragedy. It could be one sentence, this proverbial dot, something that you can’t forget. On the other hand, this is Grimsley’s debut and as such I believe it’s really great.

There is also the matter of style and let me tell you, I didn’t expect a book written in the second person (!) to be so good. It reads very natural and avoids this controversial pushing the reader into the role of the book’s main character, which I personally never liked. I would say the writing is another great thing about this short book. I will definitely read more of Grimsley in the future.

[Michael Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was a powerful, emotional , gut wrenching novel! Jim Grimsley is a brilliant storyteller and Comfort & Joy is a great follow up to Winter Birds.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm devastated after finishing this book. I'm not sure I can read this again, as beautiful as it was. The author pulls you into the pain and violence of this story of domestic abuse, and you wonder how these characters can ever pull through emotionally intact.

[Emily P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, harrowing, heartbreaking. Leaves so many questions though. Maybe that speaks to life's complexity and the book's deceptive simplicity. A worthwhile read.

[Ana · Rating 1 out of 5]

My rating is based on how much I disliked the book because of the violence - as a reminder, Goodreads rates how much people like and enjoy books, not how good or bad they are.
I have read books and seen plays that I didn't like in terms of characters or topics, but I would still reread them or resee them if I had the opportunity to go back in time and have a choice. With this book, if I had the chance to go back in time, I would not touch it.

The book is about a poor, struggling family of seven (parents and 5 children) and all information is from the point of view of Danny, one of the children. It starts on a Thanksgiving Day, goes back in time to tell the reader what has happened to the family in various moments until catching up with the day with which the book started, and finishes on its nighttime. There is a lot of unspoken threat and anger and fear throughout the book, in a crescendo that eventually leads to brutal psychological and physical domestic violence on that Thanksgiving Day.

The book is well written and has a very interesting narrator, who presents the story as if they are talking directly to Danny, retracing Danny's memories of what happened on that Thanksgiving Day and the context that lead to that.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totalmente devastador. Después de leerlo es fácil entender porque a los editores estadounidenses les pareció demasiado oscuro para publicarlo.

La narración en segunda persona hace que se sienta mayor empatía y se sufra con cada uno de los personajes. Un libro que obliga a enfrentar la realidad, por más que en cada página se plasme el deseo urgente de escapar de ella. El final es, sin duda, una de las partes más impresionantes del libro.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winter Birds is the third book I have read this year by Jim Grimsley and like the previous works this was a definite winner. Comfort and Joy was the first book of his I read and it traced the meeting and eventual loving relationship of two men from completely different backgrounds. Ford McKinney comes from an old-monied Savannah family and like previous generations is a successful doctor. Dan Crell is a hospital administrator working in the same hospital as Ford who comes from impoverished rural North Carolina roots. Comfort and Joy hints that there is a dark ugly side to Dan's family history but leaves the reader wondering what it is. Because I enjoyed Comfort and Joy so much and read that Grimsley's first novel Winter Birds was the story of Dan's childhood I quickly added the book to my To Read list.

Winter Birds is a mere 200+ pages and one that can easily be finished in a day if the reader is so inclined. The bulk of the story takes place on Thanksgiving Day. Ironically enough I finished reading it on Thanksgiving Eve. The author uses an interesting second person POV for the story, suggesting that Dan or Danny as he is called as a boy is viewing the story in his mind probably as an adult. He and his four siblings live with their parents and family dog in incredible poverty in the rural South. The father lost an arm in a farm accident and from that point forward becomes a cruel, abusive, drunken monster whom everyone in the family fears. In the longest chapter in the book, we learn the history of the family's routine movement from one poor home to the next (a total of 7 in Danny's brief 8 years at this point) to which he and his older sister Amy Kay have assigned appropriate names; the Snake House (snakes everywhere), the Fish House (formerly a fish store), the Ice House (only one small heater in the house), etc. The last home is the Circle House since it is circular and one door opens to the next and it is here that the story both begins and ends. The design of the house helps to add to the book's heart-pounding finale.

This is a very painful, terrifying story to read and a sad reminder of the all too common incidence of extreme abuse both physical and emotional that far too many women, children and animals endure on a daily basis. At one point Danny reflects, "I wish I could go to sleep and not wake up, no matter how loud he yells. Except then I'd be scared to wake up and see what he did when I was asleep." The book begins fairly slowly but by the half way point the pace picks up dramatically building to a horrific conclusion. I could not put the book down for the last 80 pages even though it was way past my bedtime. Part of the suspense of the novel is reading moments of terror followed by relieving calmness, calmness with a lingering sense that more evil will soon follow. The reader just does not know what form that evil will take and just how far the madness of Danny's father Bobjay will go.

I have read that this story is at least partly autobiographical. I can only hope for Grimsley's sake that there is more fiction that fact in this his first novel. Writing this must surely have been a cathartic experience for the author. American publishers initially rejected the work, regarding it as too depressing and dark and for many years it went unpublished. Bear in mind self-publishing 20 years ago was unlike now fairly uncommon. Only after being published in Germany did the reading public begin to appreciate what a phenomenal book it was. Eventually two years later it made its American debut and won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction in 1995.

Like the other books of his I have read, especially Dream Boy , this is anything but a feel-good work of fiction. Oh but it so worth it. I am so glad I had the good fortune to stumble upon Grimsley's work this year. He is an amazing author and one I hope to I encounter again in my readings.

UPDATE: I just finished re-reading the review I wrote earlier this year of Grimsley’s book Dream Boy. “Enticing, entrancing, powerful, moving, violent, tragic, sparse, brilliantly crafted and executed, immensely satisfying” was how I described it. All of those words apply as well to this work.

[Sarah Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Winter Birds" is one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. "Dream Boy," the first book I read by Jim Grimsley, was fucked up but this is undoubtedly worse. The chronicle of an extremely dysfunctional rural family dominated by a sadistic alcoholic husband and father, "Winter Birds" is notable for being written in second person, which I initially thought would be a pretty hackneyed way to tell a story, but I actually found myself sucked into the novel really quickly, the prose flowed really well. The issues I had were all with the story, not the writing, but this may honestly be one of the most beautifully written novels I've read in a long time, the prose just pulls you into it's world.


Danny Krell is a young hemophiliac (his age is never made explicitly clear) who copes with his brutal home life by retreating into his imagination and exploring the property around his family's home, which he and his sister Amy Kay call 'the Circle House.' Danny's father Bobjay is constantly suspecting his long-suffering wife Ellen of adultery, and takes his jealousy and rage out on Danny and his four siblings. There's never enough money in the bank, and the Krells are always cold and hungry, and somehow Bobjay considers this, along with everything else that goes wrong with the family, to be Ellen's fault. Danny innocently makes up a protective entity called the 'River Man' and watches in helpless horror as his family unit disintegrates.


This book was a bit of a page-turner, I finished it in two days. It's a fairly short novel, but I tend to be a slow reader when I'm not particularly interested in what I'm reading. I think one of the main problems with this novel, which prevented it from being great, was how cartoonish the character of Bobjay was. He was like a hulking, leering villain who's behavior didn't always seem to always be very consistent. I initially liked the character of Danny's mother, Ellen, but I became weary of her when she continued to make excuses for her monstrous husband. The incredibly disturbing ending came completely out of nowhere, and I still don't know what to think of it. I can't say I particularly liked it, especially since the final pages raised more questions than they answered.


Now, I understand "Comfort and Joy" is about Danny Krell as an adult and "My Drowning" is about his mother, and I'd be interesting in reading those, maybe they'd answer some of my questions! Danny Krell is gay, like the author, but he is young enough in this novel for the homosexuality to only be vaguely referenced. I also understand that this book is semi-autobiographical, in which case I am very sorry to the author, much of Danny Krell's young life seems to be a complete nightmare, with little hope or respite from his oppressively bleak existence. Jim Grimsley seems to have an affinity for writing truly horrible fathers, and Bobjay is up there with Nathan's father from "Dream Boy," but not as believable and given far too much time to chew the scenery. Not for the faint of heart, and certainly not an easy sell for animal lovers, Winter Birds is beautifully written but very flawed.

[Alex Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy books where the writing style and subject matter are so at odds. You have this beautiful writing that is completely juxtaposed with a brutal story of violence and abuse, which magnifies both of those elements.

It's written in second person, which I love if done well. It was so beautiful here. His writing style was just gorgeous and I could see myself picking up more books by Grimsley just for that.

My biggest problem was just that it felt like the book was missing something. The writing and story were lovely and horrifying respectively, but I just needed something more. It wasn't doing much for me, for all that I enjoyed it. I do wonder if that was influenced by the fact that this was semi autobiographical and less of a story than a collection of fictionalized memories, but it didn't quite hit all the notes for me.

I really enjoyed this. Not my favorite book, but it was Grimsley's debut novel and I'd really like to see some of his other work.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful - a superb beautiful novel about something horrible - growing up with an abusive father and the terrors that brings for everyone in the novel. This is not a simplistic novel of good and evil - this is as much about poverty and circumstances twisting, distorting and trapping both perpetrator and victims. It is really a wonderful novel - Grimsley is a fine writer and this, his first novel is a foretaste of what was to come. I think it may be his best work - there is something real and true here and it avoids some of the over written archness and sentimentality of 'Dream Boy'.

Is this a gay novel? - well there are no 'gay' characters or issues. Is it gay because it was written by Grimsley? - I would say no but others think differently. Of course it doesn't matter - it is a wonderful novel and should be more widely known and read. As one of the final books I read in 2023 it was a great way to see out the old year on a exceptionally high note.

[TinHouseBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakob Vala (Graphic Designer): Jim Grimsley’s Winter Birds was rejected for decades, by American publishers, who called it too dark and depressing. The book is terrifying. Told in second person, this autobiographical first novel tells the story of eight-year-old Danny Crell. Danny and his youngest brother, Grove, are hemophiliacs—their world is full of knives.

Most of the story takes place over Thanksgiving, when their father’s malignant rage comes to a devastating climax. But more chilling than the eruptions of violence are the quiet attempts at domesticity and the hours of vigilance between attacks.

Grimsley’s writing is exquisite and jagged. He establishes a world where hope is possible, but very far off.

[Oi Yin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author draws you immediately by making you the protagonist in the story. It is told from the point of view of the oldest son who happens to be a hemophiliac. He chronicles a father's descent into violence through alchoholism and loss and a mother's struggle to ensure the survival of her children and loss of love for the man her husband has become. The narration creates a feeling of being there, feeling the pain of the characters as though it were your own. Although this may not be the lightest material, it was an easy read. And as always, offers another voice in how families maybe not always be what they seem.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jim Grimsley is my new favorite author.Winter Birds is the kind of book that will send you scurrying to find out what else this author has written. Much to my delight, I find that Winter Birds is this wonderful writer's first book and there are several that he has written since . This story is shown to us through the eyes of an eight year old boy. His name is Danny Krell. It is a story of abuse of the father towards the mother. I will say very little about the book itself because I do not want to give too much away. I will say,if you like a book that you cannot bear to put down, then read this one. I cannot wait to get the rest of Jim Grimsley's books .

[Val Kareem Killpack · Rating 5 out of 5]

A poignant piece of literature

This stunning first novel shows Grimsley's talent as an author. Written in second person POV---which is hard to pull off---the narrative brings the reader into the haunting world of the protagonist, telling the story of a young boy responding to his father's violence with imagination and heart. Full of beautifully-written prose and emotionally-rounded characters, this book will leave the reader asking for more.

[Jwsrauch · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart rendering book about crisp Winter days in the south, and physical and mental human abuse. A novel about alcholism, and the possible ramifications. A novel about the love and bond of mother and child, while a human being understands a "lot" that has been given to her, how to handle it at the time, and an understanding of how what children see, can possibly shape their adult lives.
Would be interesting to read a novel about Danny's adult life.

[Lee Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winter Birds is one of the most beautiful and excruciating stories I’ve ever read. If you read it for any reason at all, I daresay you'll be moved.

Full review at:

http://leeallenhoward.com/2012/02/14/...

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-Lee

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this because Dan Crell from Grimsley's "Comfort and Joy" makes reference to his father and the circle house when he was a little boy. This is Dan's story of coping and surviving an abusive father and the effect on the family. I generally avoid these stories, but this one tears at your heart. It is so beautifully written that you can't stop reading. One of my favorite authors.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I should have rated the book higher - because I will never forget it. I can't though, because it hurts. The book hurts. The story draws you in, and you are forced to see inside a family full of broken people. A friend recommended it to me - and I can't decide if I'm glad of it or not. But, like I said, I will never forget this book. That's saying something.

[OrchidWai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Husbands who abused their wives and Wives that let them. Author's writing is poetic and descriptive. But it caused me to flip the papers without feeling much. Maybe I wasn't born in abusive surrounding I dun understand I wasn't in their shoes. But I doubt I would let someone hurt me, let alone hit me abuse me psychologically or physically.
It needs to stop. Men abusing women. It gotta stop.