Simply Beautiful
The Nature Of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner is an absolutely beautiful Christian novel that is written around the true event of Operation Babylift – giving children from Vietnam a new life in America after the war.
The action is set in 1975, 1988 and 2013. The novel focuses on a family. This microcosm would be repeated in homes all over America. The reader sees life through various eyes in one family. It is all very beautifully written. Your heart will break for the orphans and children of war.
The war in Vietnam took many American lives. Those who did return were scarred physically or mentally. The Vietnamese children were scarred too. They saw terrible things no child should ever see and were very traumatized.
The novel is a book of love. We see a family with a huge capacity to love – from four year old Sonny up through the generations. There was one exception – a grandmother who lost her son in the Vietnam war. She laid the sins of the soldiers on the shoulders of a young child and needed time to adapt her views.
God is a God of love. He cares for each and every one of His children. “God is so kind… and He’s always up to something.” Sometimes we cannot see Him working, life seems bleak but God never leaves us. His eye is on the sparrow and His eye is on us.
There are those who equate riches with wealth and social standing. And there are those who know that love is the standard. “Even in the dark, love is always there.” Whatever we go through, we need to know there are those who love us.
“God’s new mercies coming every morning whether I deserve it or not.” I loved this idea. God loves us and blesses us because of the gift of grace.
With three distinct time periods – dropping in on a family with young children in 1975, teens in 1988 and all grown up in 2013 – we witness how love has to adapt and change with the seasons. As our children grow, we must give them wings to fly. “It’s time to loosen my grip. I’ve held her tight for so long, it hurts to let her go.” One of the hardest things we do as parents, is to let our children go and be free to fly.
The Nature Of Small Birds is such a beautiful novel. It will warm your heart. It will break your heart. And it will swell your heart with love. It is a work of great love and of great beauty.
I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
