A White Bird Flying

When I wrote about how much I loved reading  A Lantern In Her Hand back in January, I was excited when Karey left a comment about some of Bess Streeter Aldrich's other books.  In particular, she recommended A White Bird Flying because it picks up right where the first book left off.  So a huge thank you to Karey is in order because I didn't even know there was another book.  I finally finished reading A White Bird Flying, and it certainly did not disappoint.  I am such a fan of this author's writing and want to read more of her books.  Karey (if you're reading) which one should I read next????

Here is a short description of the book from Amazon:

*Abbie Deal, the matriarch of a pioneer Nebraska family, has died at the beginning of A White Bird Flying, leaving her china and heavy furniture to others and to her granddaughter Laura the secret of her dream of finer things. Grandma Deal's literary aspirations had been thwarted by the hard circumstances of her life, but Laura vows that nothing, no one, will deter her from a successful writing career. Childhood passes, and the more she repeats her vow the more life intervenes.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes, but as usual there are really too many to list.

(Talking about his wife of many years who died a while back)
"Well, now," he began, "You see they just never leave you entirely. Now take me...I set here on the porch...and she seems to be working inside.  When I'm inside, I just think of her as bein' out in the yard for a minute...sometimes I can hear her shut the door and go about her work. It ain't so, I know, don't think I'm off in my head...but it pleases an old man's fancies.  And when the lilacs come out...it always seems she's around.  Lilacs...always associate her with lilacs."

"Home.  What a big word that was.  Lots of attempts made lately to belittle it.  Plenty of fun poked at it.  Young folks laughed about it, called it a place to park.  Everybody wanted to get someplace else, seemed like.  They'd find out.  They'd understand some day.  When they got old, they'd know.  They'd want to go home.  Sometime in their lives, everybody wanted to go home."

I also loved the way this book ended, but I would have to quote way too much for it to make any sense. Of course, I wouldn't want to ruin it for you either if you are considering reading it!

Excellent writing and interesting characters kept me interested. I hope you'll consider reading some of Aldrich's books!