by Leslye Walton
Mar 2014 | Walker Books | $19.95hb
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender begins with an extraordinary and seemingly unlikely event. Ava — in all other ways a normal, healthy baby girl — is born into the Roux family with the wings not of an angel as the crowd gathering below her hospital window believe, but of a bird. Her wings both define and confine her as Ava grows and we, suspending our disbelief, follow her family’s historically ill-fated tale of tragic loves, both won and lost. Flirting with fairytale-esque occurrences, from Ava’s mother Viviane who has a supernatural sense of smell, to her grandmother Emilienne who sees her long lost family as ghosts everywhere, Walton builds the tale to a brutal but triumphant, and cleverly played conclusion.
Occasionally a young adult novel comes along that feels fresh and new, feels upon reading, as the title of this novel suggests, both strange and very, very beautiful. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is a rare gem, one that continues, months after reading, to haunt us, largely because of Walton’s exquisite, delicate use of language and mastery of magic realism. A stunning and deeply engaging novel, highly recommended for readers of 15 and beyond, and would make a perfect gift.
We at Books in Print were so impressed with the strength and quality of the writing in this wondrous debut novel that we believe it will also appeal to our adult readers.
