Book Review: Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson

Title: Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away
Author: Christie Watson
Publisher: Other Press
Publication Date: May 10, 2011
Paperback: 448 pages
ISBN: 978-1590514665
Genre: Fiction

From the Publisher:

When their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife.
But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.

My Review:

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is an extraordinarily touching debut novel by Christie Watson, filled with lessons of life and heartache and set in a village in the Niger Delta.  Readers learn of the hardships endured by Blessing and Ezikiel, siblings who are uprooted from their home in Lagos and move to Warri with the mother.  While this move was done to protect the children, other experiences await the family in Warri where Blessing learns to question the wisdom of traditions of mutilation and the ravages on the environment by the quest for petroleum.  Home life for the children now living with their mother’s family allows them to learn from their grandparents.  Watson’s prose provides such vivid detail of both the characters and their surroundings that one cannot help but feel immersed in this African culture and environment.  As a reviewer, I could not help but feel personally invested in this story after being drawn into the hopes and aspirations of this family.  I will be looking for Watson’s next work as her debut gives me reason to believe she is destined to be an excellent author.  Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away would provide plenty of discussion for book groups, particularly groups that enjoy learning about foreign cultures, traditions, and the daily struggles the people of these cultures endure.

About the Author:

Christie Watson trained as a pediatric nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and worked as a senior staff nurse and educator for over ten years before joining the University of East Anglia for her MA in Creative Writing. There she won the Malcolm Bradbury Bursary for her work. Watson lives in South London with her Nigerian Muslim partner and their large dual-heritage family. This is her first novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson from Other Press to offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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