The Bird Sisters

by Rebecca Rasmussen

Out of everyone, Milly was the only one who'd ever played a miserable round of golf on her behalf or told her that she was worth a million pine needle pillows or spooned her when she was cold. She was the only one who scooped her up when she tumbled to the ground all those years ago, and she was the only one who saw Twiss fly to the moon.

"I'll be right in," Twiss called back, and thought We don't need anyone but us.

The sentiment expressed by Twiss says it all for me. Milly and Twiss, the bird sisters, are aging sisters in Spring Green, WI. Locally, they are known for repairing injured birds. When the reader meets them, she wonders, "How did they get to be this way?"

Most of the novel is spent explaining how the two sisters wound up living as spinsters and repairing birds. Their pivotal summer, so long ago, includes a visit from cousin Bett and the chaos created by her.

Their story is sometimes sweet and sometimes heartbreaking. You cannot help but to love Milly and Twiss.

10/25/11