The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

~~~~~~~4.5 Stars~~~~~~~

Magical Realism done perfectly. Leslye Walton's writing style is absolutely magnificent!! The robust list of characters residing within this hauntingly beautiful tale contains some of the best character development I have read in a long time... if not ever. This book harkens back to a time before Fairytales were sterilized and fluffed, a time when tales mirrored the intrinsic ugliness of Life. The lyrical prose delve into the obsessive/destructive/bewitching beauty of Youth, Lust, Betrayal, Hope and most of all Love (in all of its many forms). Each character is not only breathtaking but an integral part of this intoxicating story. The book's essence is so immersive that I often found myself crying, laughing, show more cringing and holding my breath... willing the night to last so I could live in its world a bit longer. "Love makes us such fools" indeed and I am undeniably a fool for this book. A must read for any who look for a book that leaves you irrevocably changed. show less

Magical Realism done perfectly. Leslye Walton's writing style is absolutely magnificent!! The robust list of characters residing within this hauntingly beautiful tale contains some of the best character development I have read in a long time... if not ever. This book harkens back to a time before Fairytales were sterilized and fluffed, a time when tales mirrored the intrinsic ugliness of Life. The lyrical prose delve into the obsessive/destructive/bewitching beauty of Youth, Lust, Betrayal, Hope and most of all Love (in all of its many forms). Each character is not only breathtaking but an integral part of this intoxicating story. The book's essence is so immersive that I often found myself crying, laughing, cringing and holding my show more breath... willing the night to last so I could live in its world a bit longer. "Love makes us such fools" indeed and I am undeniably a fool for this book. A must read for any who look for a book that leaves you irrevocably changed show less

You know when you catch a TV show you haven’t ever seen, but it's been playing for years? The kind when you just so happen to stop on a channel and it is intriguing and you like the hero’s face and funny one-liners so you Google it, and Google turns into Netflix and Netflix turns into buying everything on Amazon?

Then, you have 8 seasons to catch up on (Supernatural) or your friend only bought the first season and you have to watch the new ones on ABC (Once Upon A Time) or you watch both seasons on Netflix and have to wait two whole damn years for the next season (Sherlock). But you can’t watch it every second of every day like you wanted to because you have to work or see Catching Fire or attend family Thanksgiving‘s.

And my show more personal battle—the Netflix plan being DVD only. Cause I live out where wifi is almost nonexistent. (Seriously, think The Last House on the Left without a sexy, uh I mean creepy, Aaron Paul and no lake. Just fields and forests and a Verizon mifi Jetpack that sometimes works because this is apparently a dominant AT&T zone).

THAT is what reading this book was like. I wanted to devout my life to it. But, with an 8 hour work day and the fact that I must have 8 hours of sleep or else I will be a raging bitch in heels, I was cut down to a half hour of reading or less in the 4 days I read the The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender.

It is absolutely strange and beautiful. Don’t take the title for granted.

We meet the title character, Ava, in the first paragraph, but it isn’t her story until about 50% into this book. I mean, in a way, it is her story. It’s an unusual buildup to her current life. She is narrating it, but it is truly a tale of atypical generations.

It is probably not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. I, however; loved it. It was this perfectly strange mix of beautiful, lyrical prose and peculiar, original characters. Combining those two and you obviously have an interesting book. No doubt, I was hooked from the minute a baby was born with wings.

More than anything, this is a story about family. A beautifully woven, heartbreaking tale centered on a family who, in their own way, will always be the strongest love they find.

There isn’t a single thing in this book that was unnecessary. No character went unnoticed or underappreciated. Every little detail fell in sync with the ultimate ending.

And I absolutely loved it. Every single thing. I loved when it made it me giggle or smile at something clever. I loved when it made me cry. And believe me, I cried. Every tiny, perfect sentence that I soaked in and held until I was sure I would never forget it.

And that’s the best thing about The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender. You will never forget it.

I’ve thrown the world “perfect” around a couple of times. I guess that’s it. Perfect. This book is perfect. show less

I really, really wanted to love this book.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender reminded me a great deal of The House of the Spirits. Both are magical realism, both have a strange house, both are about multiple generations of a family, and both are focused on the matriarchal side.

When this book is immersed in the magical realism side, it's wonderful. The writing is lovely and whimsy, taking each turn -- the sister who turns herself into a canary, the ghosts, the never-aging Spanish princess -- as very matter-of-course, which is precisely what magical realism should do.

But then reality intrudes. And it jars. Hearing a girl with wings speak in American slang and misuse "like" just plain hurts. It doesn't work, and ultimately show more it spoils the story.

After I finished The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, I spent a long time thinking about why this book just didn't quite work for me. I adored The House of the Spirits, and reality intrudes in that book, too. But in The House of the Spirits, reality is a rude and pushy thing that disturbs the peace and tranquility of the magical realism. Reality is not welcome, but barges in nonetheless. Reality (aka politics) is a foreign invader. In The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, reality walks hand-in-hand with the magical realism. Reality exists peaceably, and that's precisely what magical realism should never do. show less

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.

In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.

That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill show more the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.

First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human. show less

Ava Lavender’s family had a history of heartbreaking love. Men who ran away, men who died, a father who married another and left her mother pregnant, an aunt who turned into a bird; it’s just not a cheerful family. To add to it, the dead haunt the living. So when unmarried Viviane gives birth to a baby girl with wings and an autistic boy, it’s just another heartbreak looking for a place to happen. Viviane keeps Ava penned up in the house, fearing what the outside world might do to Ava because of her wings. But she’s an open secret; the delivery room nurses told all.

Despite her mother’s plan to keep Ava away from others, she meets a girl her own age when she is playing in the backyard. The girl is unimpressed with Ava’s show more condition; she can’t fly, so she is just a girl. As they get older, Ava begins to escape at night and meet other teens, stretching her wings so to speak. But she doesn’t know that someone has developed a dangerous obsession with her. You can’t protect those you love from life or love. Penning them up only makes them try harder to escape. And it’s only after escaping that they can truly spread their wings and fly.

The prose is so perfectly wrought it’s like fine goldwork, tastefully ornamented and shiny. It was a joy to read; very good magical realism. Some readers have complained that it’s not just about Ava; no, it’s about her whole family, a generational novel. In some ways it reminded me of a less weird ‘Bellefleur’ (note: I love that book). This is Walton’s first novel; I can’t wait to see what she does next. show less

This is another read from my roadtrip last month, and wow, this was a haunting one. I wasn’t expecting this – I had no idea what I was in for. I felt haunted as I read, haunted when I reluctantly had to put it down in the middle (like when it was my turn to drive), and haunted when I finished. It is a stunning read that I really, really loved.

It does take a stretch of the imagination and an acceptance of the unrealistic, though, to really get into and enjoy and immerse yourself into. But I felt it wasn’t too much of a stretch for me. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender recounts the history of the Roux/Lavender family, their sad and tragic accounts of how love goes wrong but life goes on. The storytelling spans from show more title character Ava’s grandmother and her family’s migration to the US, and it all comes down to Ava Lavender and her twin, Henry, both a little different from the expected norm in their little Seattle town of the 50s – Henry with what I suspect is a form of autism, and Ava with her wings. That’s right, a child born with wings which should grant her freedom but in her mother’s fear only constrains her.

I find that generational stories can go either way – and this one definitely went the right way. The story moved slowly and at times you might wonder to what purpose, but it does have a purpose. I was so caught up in the lyrical writing the time passed quickly and I found the story was over long before I was ready to leave it behind. It follows particularly the love stories through the generations, those who they loved and lost and how it shaped the rest of their lives, and the lives of their children that follow. Love for the Roux and Lavender families has been cruel and tragic and has made them all ‘such fools’ and in this book they long for it, hold on to it and leave it. I loved the observations of the illogical nature of love and they also broke my heart. I was smiling one second, crying the next and I always wanted to read more. show less