The title is an inversion of Emily Dickinson’s Hope is the Thing With Feathers, but perched on ‘grief’ is the crow and all of its associations with death, trickery, and malevolence. The crow is a constant companion in the family’s mourning process as they try to cope and make do with a new life after the tragic death of the mother. The storytelling is experimental — it is fable, essay, and poetry in the larger novella. The perspective shifts often and it’s easy to lose track of what makes sense if the reader speeds through the novella. It is an unflinching account on the messiness of grief and the pain that the people inflict on each other and themselves. This is also a great early spring read at the very, very tail-end of the winter, perhaps on a rainy day by the window. This will especially resonate with people who have lost a family member relatively recently. Take your time reading this.

ISBN: 9781555977412