Choose a format:
Buy from us:
- Washington Square Press |
- 288 pages |
- ISBN 9781439160930 |
- February 2011
Buy from another retailer:
Praise
“There’s nothing I like better than a dark family secret, and Kelly Simmons really delivers in The Bird House. Ann Harris, an impeccable Main Line grande dame, is blasé about her past until her beloved granddaughter begins digging around and raising the stakes dangerously. This is a beautifully paced novel that will keep you guessing right to the end.”
– Pam Lewis, author of Perfect Family
-
“There’s nothing I like better than a dark family secret, and Kelly Simmons really delivers in The Bird House. Ann Harris, an impeccable Main Line grande dame, is blasé about her past until her beloved granddaughter begins digging around and raising the stakes dangerously. This is a beautifully paced novel that will keep you guessing right to the end.”– Pam Lewis, author of Perfect Family
-
“Kelly Simmons' The Bird House deconstructs the American family with lyrical prose, sharp insights, and heartbreaking honesty. Deeply moving and very powerful.”– Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Rot & Ruin
-
“Kelly Simmons is able to clearly capture the voice of an elderly woman and tell her story in such crisp, tight prose I was hooked from the very first page. The Bird House is more than a suspenseful story, though--it’s about secrets: family secrets. And those are always the best kept ones.”– Chevy Stevens, New York Times bestselling author of Still Missing
-
“Simmons smoothly shifts between past and present in her complex and poignant second novel, told from the point of view of a courageous woman suffering from dementia.”– Publishers Weekly
-
“The writing is so evocative and detailed in its depiction of the inevitable reckonings that come with age.”– Kirkus Reviews
-
“A great title for book groups that enjoy strong female characters. ”– Library Journal
-
“Mothers and daughters and family secrets permeate this surprisingly dark novel of modern family life.”– Booklist
-
“With the turn of each crisp page or the slide of a finger on your e-book, there’s no doubt that Kelly Simmons’ two novels are anything less than masterpieces.... The Bird House has solidified Kelly Simmons’ spot as a captivating, talented writer who intimately connects her countless readers to a secret past.”– Mainline Magazine
-
“Some novels are meant to be read slowly, savoring each word, while others push you to keep turning pages, teased on by the promise of secrets revealed. And then there are novels that are both, like The Bird House by Kelly Simmons. This book is so beautifully written that I felt guilty racing through it to discover what happens, and so I read it a second time, happy to spend another day under the spell of the story's brilliantly realized narrator.”– Lisa Tucker, author of The Winters in Bloom
Read an Excerpt
October 22, 2010
Beneath the surface of any problem, if you scrabble a bit, you’ll find a secret.
It may take a while—decades perhaps—not for your excavation, mind you, but for your desire to appear; for that childlike curiosity to float up again. Indeed, you may need an actual child to summon it, as I did.
But this is what drives us—the historians, the trash pickers, the gossips, the shrinks. And yes, the readers of books. We’re all rooting around, teasing out other people’s hidden reasons.
Haven’t we all profited from another’s heartache? Anything... see more
Beneath the surface of any problem, if you scrabble a bit, you’ll find a secret.
It may take a while—decades perhaps—not for your excavation, mind you, but for your desire to appear; for that childlike curiosity to float up again. Indeed, you may need an actual child to summon it, as I did.
But this is what drives us—the historians, the trash pickers, the gossips, the shrinks. And yes, the readers of books. We’re all rooting around, teasing out other people’s hidden reasons.
Haven’t we all profited from another’s heartache? Anything... see more
Get our latest book recommendations, author news and sweepstakes right to your inbox
Book Reviews
Reading Group Guide
This reading group guide for The Bird House includes an introduction, discussion questions, ideas for enhancing your book club, and a Q&A with author Kelly Simmons. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.
INTRODUCTION
Every family has its secrets. But when you are the last survivor tending to the dark fires of memory, and your own mind is fading, who do you share them with? Your diary or your eight-year-old granddaughter? Or do you simply let them fade away, along with your memory?
The Bird House is a moving story of secrets, lies, and relationships. It is a close look at the hardship and heartbreak that one woman can withstand during a lifetime. As an elderly woman, Ann Biddle is struggling to both remember and come to terms with the life she has led. It is through her young, but wise granddaughter, Ellie, that Ann finds a way to deal with her past and finally reveal the secrets that have come to taint the present.
TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Ann reveals within the first chapter that her memory is failing. How did this confession affect your reading? Was Ann an unreliable narrator? Explain your answer.
2. Bird houses are a recurring theme throughout the novel—besides the title see more
INTRODUCTION
Every family has its secrets. But when you are the last survivor tending to the dark fires of memory, and your own mind is fading, who do you share them with? Your diary or your eight-year-old granddaughter? Or do you simply let them fade away, along with your memory?
The Bird House is a moving story of secrets, lies, and relationships. It is a close look at the hardship and heartbreak that one woman can withstand during a lifetime. As an elderly woman, Ann Biddle is struggling to both remember and come to terms with the life she has led. It is through her young, but wise granddaughter, Ellie, that Ann finds a way to deal with her past and finally reveal the secrets that have come to taint the present.
TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. Ann reveals within the first chapter that her memory is failing. How did this confession affect your reading? Was Ann an unreliable narrator? Explain your answer.
2. Bird houses are a recurring theme throughout the novel—besides the title see more
