The Year the Swallows Came Early

Day 11 of BEDA.

The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice.

"Things that look just right come undone quicker then the last day of summer" - Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Occasionally you will read a book that not only speaks to your heart but gives you a shocking sense of clarity. I picked up this book because I was bored and it was short and I figured I needed to try to read something that wasn't fantasy for a change. It's good to live in the real world every now and then. It was almost as if fate drew me to this book, which is ironic because in a subtle way Fitzmaurice talks about fate. She shows that there are some parts of life that are unavoidable, but that doesn't mean there isn't a choice.

When Eleanor "Groovy" Robinson is betrayed by the person she trusts most in the world, she begins to see life from a new set of eyes, and those eyes are dark. She perfectly explains the aftershock of a tragedy when she says "there's no way to track time while trying to understand something completely different about a person you thought was someone else." Who hasn't felt that time stands still after huge shock or unexpected change? As the season progresses, Eleanor realizes that betrayals aren't always as black and white as they seem, and neither are her perceptions. The relateability of her struggle to find her place in this new world that fate and choice have created for her makes this a book a real page turner.

This is an amazing story about how one group of loved ones redefine what it means to be a family and having honest acceptance. One of the more powerful debut novels I've read in a long time, this is a book that can speak to any person in a period of change.