Lavender in My Dreams...

"He turned and saw me, my wings exposed. He paled. For reasons even I remain unsure of, I dropped to my knees, raised my chin, and opened my mouth. For a moment he stood unmoving, possibly awestruck by the close proximity of the blooms of my lips. Then he held up a paper-thin wafer and brought it to my mouth. I reached up and touched it with my tongue."

I had no idea this book would turn out to be so wonderful. In fact, I can't remember having read a more beautiful book in the recent years and the term "magical realism" is highlighted once more as one of my favorite styles of writing. It is Leslye Walton's debut novel, which appeared in 2014 and named by Publishers Weekly as "entrancing and sumptuously written." 

"The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender" is the story of a simple girl... who is born with wings. She is not a bird, nor and angel, but not quite human. The first half of the book is dedicated to presenting the lives of Ava's mother and grandmother, their struggle to "fit in", to face sadness and love that is not shared. The second part of the novel presents in more detail Ava's life and her attempts to reveal herself to the world. 

"I often thought I was going crazy- or maybe not going but already there. As if my future was only a locked room with white painted walls and white painted floors, with no windows or doors or any means to escape. A place where I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out."

Real human love goes hand in hand with religious love, or does it? Obsession can lead you to commit the unthinkable and still, what I wished to happen all along the novel happens in the end and both Ava and me have felt liberated... Love is truly the one and only miracle. It is definitely a mesmerizing read! 

"Love makes us such fools!"