The Birds of Opulence (Kentucky Voices)

From the critically acclaimed, award-winning author ofBlackberries and Water Street comes anastonishing new novel. A lyrical exploration of love and loss,The Birds of Opulence centers on several generations ofwomen in a bucolic southern black township as they live with andsometimes surrender to madness.The Goode-Brown family, led by matriarch and pillar of thecommunity Minnie Mae, is plagued by old secrets and embarrassmentover mental illness and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, single motherFrancine Clark is haunted by her dead, lightning-struck husband andforced to fight against both the moral judgment of the communityand her own rebellious daughter, Mona. The residents of Opulencestruggle with vexing relationships to the land, to one another, andto their own sexuality. As the members of the youngest generationwatch their mothers and grandmothers pass away, they live with thefear of going mad themselves and must fight to survive.Crystal Wilkinson offers up Opulence andits people in lush, poetic detail. It is a world of magic,conjuring, signs, and spells, but also of harsh realities that onlylove—and love that's handed down—can conquer. At once tragic andhopeful, this captivating novel is a story about another time,rendered for our own.