• Byrd
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Byrd

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The fragmented family history of a child given up for adoption, told through his birth parents and others.
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  • 18 March 2014
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“Brilliant writing—lively and heartbreaking at every turn.”—Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life

In this debut novel, 33-year-old Addie Lockwood bears and surrenders for adoption a son, her only child, without telling his father, little imagining how the secret will shape their lives. Through letters and spare, precisely observed vignettes, Byrd explores a birth mother’s coming to make and live with the most difficult, intimate, and far-reaching of choices.

Kim Church’s stories have appeared in Shenandoah, Painted Bride Quarterly, Flash Fiction Forward, and elsewhere. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she has received fellowships from the North Carolina Arts Council, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Millay Colony, and Vermont Studio Center . She lives in Raleigh , North Carolina with her husband, artist Anthony Ulinski. Byrd is her first novel.


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Price: $14.95
Pages: 228
Publisher: Dzanc Books
Imprint: Dzanc Books
Publication Date: 18 March 2014
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.50 in
ISBN: 9781938604522
Format: Paperback
BISACs:

"Kim Church has created an unforgettable and gripping tale about a young woman's passage to adulthood in a small town in North Carolina in her excellent debut novel, Byrd. There are books we like to read because they provide a window to a world wholly unfamiliar, but there are others like Byrd that give insight into our own lives."
—BookPage


“This book is criminally underappreciated. … Not one character is this book is wasted, or less than human.”
—Lemuria


"Brilliant writing; lively and heartbreaking at every turn."
—Jill McCorkle, New York Times bestselling author of Life After Life


"A riveting debut. Kim Church is a very talented writer."
—Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena and Nothing Gold Can Stay


"This protagonist is so appealing, with her unflinching moral candor, her mistakes based on generous instincts. The prose is lilting, joyous. This novel's about young lives that start out full of promise, falter, then recover ... A hard luck story that will make you feel good."
—Debra Monroe, author of On the Outskirts of Normal: Forging a Family Against the Grain


"Addie is a particular woman; a character that will linger and grow beloved; but she could also be your sister, your roommate from college, a friend in the neighborhood. She's still struggling in her thirties to make sense of old loves and loss that keeps cycling back into her life. A successful woman in the world, her heart remains in flux until love that can't be budged finally takes root in her. Kim Church has imagined a world of good people missing the mark as good people sometimes do. They're familiar, a comfort. I will never forget the impact of the final pages."
—Patricia Henley, National Book Award finalist and author of Other Heartbreaks


"Fresh, riveting, and brilliantly written. The richly layered story explores motherhood and its attendant relationships in ways that break new ground, both stylistically and thematically. Already recognized for her work in the short story form, Kim Church should gain national attention with this original and important novel."
—Angela Davis-Gardner, author of Butterfly's Child and Plum Wine


"Beautiful, dream-like language connects us directly with the experience of all the characters. It goes right to the heart, without being filtered through the brain, the way a smell connects you to a memory."
—Nancy Peacock, New York Times notable author of Life Without Water and The Life & Times of Persimmon Wilson