The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner {Book Review}

 **I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are my own. 

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adopted family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival in their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy's desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he'll lose the daughter he's poured his heart into. Mindy's mother undergoes the emotional rollercoaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy's sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family--but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.

Susie Finkbeiner is the CBA bestselling author of All Manner of Things, which was selected as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, and Stories That Bind Us, as well as A Cup of Dust, A Trail of Crumbs, and A Song of Home. She serves on the Fiction Readers Summit planning committee, volunteers her time at Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and speaks at retreats and women's events across the country. Susie and her husband have three children and live in West Michigan.

Susie Finkbeiner truly is a master storyteller who has such a beautiful way of drawing the reader into a character's life and heart. We are transported to a different place and time, and we cannot help but to feel so very deeply for these beautifully written characters. The Nature of Small Birds is such a beautiful example of that masterful storytelling. It is emotional read that will tug at the heartstrings, taking on tough topics of like the struggles of adoption and racism. Covering many years, with three different perspectives, it is a unique read that certainly did not fail to draw me in. It may have been perhaps a bit slower paced than some books I prefer to read, but it seemed to work for the story so I cannot make any complaints. Overall, this a wonderfully written story that fans of historical fiction are sure to want to check out.