Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Bird Sisters

by Rebecca Rasmussen (Goodreads Author)

3.31 of 5 stars 3.31 · rating details · 1,986 ratings · 548 reviews

When a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds' heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can't, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who've brought them. These spinster sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health.

But back in the summer of 1947,...more

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published April 12th 2011 by Crown

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

What's the book you can't wait to read this summer?

223rd out of 1,962 books — 4,788 voters

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Books coming out in 2011

84th out of 223 books — 338 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 22, 2011 Beth rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was asked to read and review this novel for a cover blurb, and though I was incredibly busy and tempted to decline because of my schedule, something told me to accept.

And I am so glad I did.

Rebecca Rasmussen writes with evocative prose and a sense of place that is exceptional. THE BIRD SISTERS is a delightful, highly original novel that explores the bonds, wounds, and tender complexities of the human heart. This book is vivid and heartbreaking and wondrous. And it's a bit magical too.

like 12 likes · see review

May 05, 2011 Jean rated it 5 of 5 stars

I just finished The Bird Sisters. I'm not sure what to write without giving away the plot. The book was moving, sad, funny. I'm in awe of Rebecca Rasmussen - she is a wonderful writer. Milly and Twiss are old ladies who take care of wounded birds. Since you know that they end their lives living together, the author makes you wonder, "What happened?" How did they end up this way? Their story takes you back, chapter by chapter, to the story of the summer when they were 16 and 14 and their cousin B...more

like 9 likes · see review

Jun 20, 2011 Wendy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, girly-books, history-based-fiction, gave-up-reading-and-skimmed

Don't be fooled by the pretty cover. This book is depressing as can be. I'm really shocked that it's getting such glowing reviews. Here's how it goes:

When the book opens, sisters Milly and Twiss are old spinsters with the reputation for repairing injured birds. They flashback to their miserable childhoods in which we get a chance to see why they ended up alone.

There's basically no one to like in this book. The girls' father is a golf pro and completely selfish. Example: he buys his wife a club...more Don't be fooled by the pretty cover. This book is depressing as can be. I'm really shocked that it's getting such glowing reviews. Here's how it goes:

When the book opens, sisters Milly and Twiss are old spinsters with the reputation for repairing injured birds. They flashback to their miserable childhoods in which we get a chance to see why they ended up alone.

There's basically no one to like in this book. The girls' father is a golf pro and completely selfish. Example: he buys his wife a club she will never use for her birthday (yes, it's really for him) and he leaves his little daughter out alone in a bad rainstorm while he finishes a game. And this is his charming side.

The mother is a pathetic mess. She apparently fell in love with the father and gave up the money she grew up with to marry him. Now she completely regrets her decision and is not shy about showing this in front of her daughters. She's too proud to accept a sandwich even though she doesn't have money to buy food, and she still tries to do her best to keep up with the latest fashions. At one point, she collapses at a table and in front of her girls bemoans the realization that she'll never go to France again. (Thanks, author, btw, for not trusting us to figure out her unhappiness without making it so blatant. :P) I'm sorry but I just can't sympathize with this woman. She chose to marry for love, she's got to live with her decisions even if it turns out she married an idiot. And so what if she can't get to France again, she has two little girls to love and take care of now.

I suppose the girls are a little more sympathetic, at least when they are young and have less control over their lives. But I'm not completely buying that one terrible summer would forever make them give up any chance of happiness or realizing their dreams.

So what happens? The father gets into a car accident and loses his mojo. He can't golf anymore and moves out of the house into the barn. The girls' cousin Bett comes to stay. She's obviously troubled, too, and in her introduction she dramatically drains some blisters and then sticks her arms into a bunch of bees. Refined Milly is horrified, tomboy Twiss is captivated. (Um, didn't this bee-charming stuff happen in Fried Green Tomatoes?)

It was about at this point that I tuned out and started skimming to see what happened. The sad story apparently continues this way: (view spoiler) Stupid situations all around. (Maybe I missed something big in my skimming; there was another recurring bit about the priest who left the church and town and then corresponded with Twiss. But honestly, I didn't care at all about him.)

While I liked the Wisconsin setting (I love Madison and Spring Green) I didn't feel like the book really did it justice. I also don't think it captured the 40s very well. It only seemed to be set back then to mathematically match when these old Bird Sisters would have been younger. I found the transitions from one time to another jarring instead of smooth, and the flashbacks were also confusing. Like at the start of going back, I was not sure how old the girls were supposed to be. And then the second flashback happened before the first one, and I think it kept going out of order like that. The present day stuff was rather slow and just sad and I suppose was only there to reinforce the inevitability of an unhappy outcome.

But it's the plot and characters and themes that I really didn't like. I suppose the grand point or moral of the story is about people who can't change, how one decision can make you miserable and you can never recover from it. Yuck. Come on, people, adapt already. Also, I suppose the idea of the girls' becoming the bird sisters (which we hear very little about, actually, despite the title) is that they've spent their lives trying to make things better the way they tried to make their family better. Again, just yuck. Can you tell I wouldn't recommend this?(less)

like 14 likes · see review

Mar 05, 2011 Debbie Roberts rated it 3 of 5 stars

I just got word this morning that I've won a copy of this book from Goodreads.
Excellent! I look forward to reading it.

This is quite good! Sisters Milly and Twiss learn so much about each other and readers who follow their story can't help but become passionately entwined.

P.S. I also adore the book's cover art. Wonderful!

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 31, 2011 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Karen by: Beth Hoffman

I was first introduced to The Bird Sisters (Rebecca Rasmussen), by a very talented NYT Bestselling author: Beth Hoffman. Beth set my expectations high with her comment, “the prose are some of the best I’ve ever read.”
I had been excited to read to novel for months, the anticipation built with readings from the Author and when UPS delivered the novel I opened it, intending to read ‘only a page or two’ and 100 pages later I realized I had banished the world, dinner would be sandwiches, things left...more

like 6 likes · see review

Apr 04, 2011 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Milly and Twiss are known throughout Spring Green, Wisconsin as “the bird sisters” – two elderly spinsters who minister to broken birds and make them whole again. And, in many ways, the birds are a metaphor for who they are. Early on, Milly reflects, “The smartest birds built their nests high up in the trees. Some birds, namely the wood pigeon, the clumsiest architect of all, began building their nests but never finished them.”

The sisters would fall into that latter grouping. At one point in the...more Milly and Twiss are known throughout Spring Green, Wisconsin as “the bird sisters” – two elderly spinsters who minister to broken birds and make them whole again. And, in many ways, the birds are a metaphor for who they are. Early on, Milly reflects, “The smartest birds built their nests high up in the trees. Some birds, namely the wood pigeon, the clumsiest architect of all, began building their nests but never finished them.”

The sisters would fall into that latter grouping. At one point in their lives, they were eager to take wing until the summer of 1947 changed everything. Since the story is told as a flashback, we, the readers, are charged with the task of finding out how – and why.

It was, indeed, a pivotal summer. Their long-time trusted priest, Father Rice, pronounces that God doesn’t exist and leaves an astounded congregation for Mexico. Their father, a golf-pro, who loves the lifestyle more than he loves their mother, is in a car accident while coming home from buying ice-cream sundaes; his game, both literally and metaphorically) is forever altered. Milly develops her first real crush with a boy named Asa.

But perhaps most important of all, their older cousin Bett arrives for an extended stay from her small town. Rasmussen writes, “While other girls planned their future weddings down to the kinds of cakes they thought they might like to serve, Bett had Twiss running around without her underwear on, hanging from trees in the moonlight invoking spirits who took joy in menacing young girls. She had Milly giving up her secrets only so she could make fun of them.”

As dad retreats to his barn and shuts the door to the marriage and Bett becomes an unlikely rival, we know that things cannot end well, although the chain of events is only gradually revealed. We learn, for example, that these sisters realized that summer that they no longer possessed the power to change the future; they took an ordinary wounded starling back to their farmhouse, hoping it would recover from its injuries and take flight for them.

But why? That’s part of the journey of discovery waiting for the reader. In heartbreaking detail, Ms. Rasmussen describes the loss of innocence and the tough decisions and sacrifices that will have far-reaching effects. As with many important moments in life, trades have to be made and none of it is easy.

And through it all, the setting becomes a “character” in its own right. Ms. Rasmussen expertly recreates the life of a small farming town where townspeople gather and from time to time, dreams are shattered. Using descriptions of a town fair, home-baked pies sitting on checkered tables, and a goat named Hoo-Hoo, Spring Green becomes a little touch of Eden before the fall.

Achingly authentic, filled with the loss of girlish dreams and the embracing of what is left, Rebecca Rasmussen weaves a portrait of two sisters who realize that for humans as well as birds, “You couldn’t fiddle with even the tiniest bones without repercussions in the larger ones.” The Bird Sisters is particularly recommended for female audiences who enjoy talented debut authors such as Beth Hoffman, Randy Susan Meyers, Eleanor Brown, and Ellen Meeropol.

(less)

like 3 likes · see review

Mar 17, 2013 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There is an interview by Beth Hoffman at the end of this novel...she writes of the qualities in a book that can just grab her: "The voice is always the first hook, then the characters and prose, and finally the story. To find such a book is exciting, and when I opened The Bird Sisters and began to read, I knew I was in for a wonderful experience."

This is so exactly how it happens.! For just a bit, I caught myself wonderful WHY am I so attracted to this? It is a story of very average people...and...more

like 1 like · see review

Mar 23, 2011 Jamie (The Perpetual Page-Turner) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, from-the-pub

The story gracefully moves between the present and haunting memories from their childhood. The bulk of the memories take place in the span of the summer of 1947 when Milly and Twiss are teenagers and becomes the turning point to paving the path that leads to where they are now as spinsters. Immediately I was invested in the lives of Milly and Twiss and had such a desire to know how they ended up so alone when it seemed like they had a lot going for them. I think that was the most heart-wrenching...more The story gracefully moves between the present and haunting memories from their childhood. The bulk of the memories take place in the span of the summer of 1947 when Milly and Twiss are teenagers and becomes the turning point to paving the path that leads to where they are now as spinsters. Immediately I was invested in the lives of Milly and Twiss and had such a desire to know how they ended up so alone when it seemed like they had a lot going for them. I think that was the most heart-wrenching part-- knowing how they ended up and needing to find out why. The details of the events that summer were revealed ever so carefully and evenhandedly that it kept you reeling until you are given the answers to what had happened. And let me tell you-- it was shocking, heartbreaking and beautiful -- simultaneously. I had goosebumps as we finally learned what happened in the most pivotal moment that summer.

Milly and Twiss are two of the most quirky and unforgettable characters that I've encountered in a while. They were developed so finely and with great precision and I just fell completely in love with them. I found a lot of the other characters to be interesting as well. Cousin Bett was that character that you just wanted to slap silly yet I kept wondering what her story was. The characters personalities were so perfectly melded together with the plot that I just kept thinking of how perfect of a book this was. Milly and Tilly are definitely the shining stars but what I loved is that they aren't always brave, or always right or strong...they were so real and were perfect in their own ways.

For the most part I can honestly say this book was flawless for me, but I must confess, there were a few parts where it took me a little bit to figure out if we were back in the past or in the present although I was able to deduce after a page or so. The parts in the present, in the heads of the older Milly and Twiss, were a little slower moving for me but it definitely balanced out the story well.

My Final Thought: I would recommend this to anybody looking for the perfect combination of unforgettable characters, a carefully crafted and revealed plot with a layer of surprises and undeniably beautiful prose that you find yourself savoring with each page. Seriously, this book charmed the socks off of me, broke my heart and had me mentally shelving this book under "books that remind me why I love the written word." It wasn't overwrought in emotion or drama nor was it the type of book that was trying too hard to BE something profound. It felt real and was definitely a breath of fresh air for me. (less)

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Cindi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

I finished The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen a few days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since and what I would write in my review.

I used to know of two old sisters that lived together in their house until they were in their nineties and no longer able to take care of themselves. Their early lives fascinated me and for years I have wondered and imagined how they ended up together and alone. The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen reminds me of those two ancient sisters.

Milly and Twiss...more I finished The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen a few days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since and what I would write in my review.

I used to know of two old sisters that lived together in their house until they were in their nineties and no longer able to take care of themselves. Their early lives fascinated me and for years I have wondered and imagined how they ended up together and alone. The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen reminds me of those two ancient sisters.

Milly and Twiss have been saving the injured birds in their hometown of Spring Green, Wisconsin for years. Neither sister has ever married. Never had children. Except for each other they are alone. But they do have a story and through memories, their story is told in this novel.

Milly is beautiful and sweet. She lives to please others and to bake cookies for Asa, the boy she day dreams about. Twiss, just a few years younger than Milly, is untamed and uncultured. She prefers to talk to the turtles living in the pond or play golf with her father.

Their mother gave up her inheritance to marry for love. Their father loves golf but an accident has messed up his swing and he moves into the barn. The family continues day in and day out in a fragile disharmony until their eighteen year old cousin Bett comes to visit for the summer.

The ensuing drama will change their possible futures and the sisters will stay exactly the same. I ached at the love between the sisters and their willingness to give up their futures for each other. At the same time it is literally painful to read of the loss of their girlish dreams.

Rasmussen expertly describes life in a small town. Her characters are eccentric but believable (especially if you have lived in a small town full of eccentric characters). Within the lovely setting and mixed with unique characters, there is a well developed and intriguing story too. Well written and engaging, I enjoyed this piece of literature.

The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen is being published by Crown Publishers and will be released on April 12, 2011.

I received an ARC of The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen from FirstReads in exchange for an honest review of the book. I received no additional compensation.
(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Feb 25, 2011 Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars

There's something really thrilling about finding a book set in the Midwest--this one in Wisconsin--and finding that the author can treat the situations and characters with both respect and a sharp eye toward truth. In "The Bird Sisters" the author does so with grace and authority. I was willingly pulled into Twiss and Milly's modern world and then their past, a past full of secrets and desires and of young girls witnessing their parent's irrevocably flawed marriage.

The sisters are elderly at th...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 01, 2011 Sonja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, 2011, own, arc

Won ARC from Firstreads.

Great book about two sisters. The time switches back and forth between modern times and 1947. Specifically one day in the present and the summer of 1947 when Milly and Twiss received a visit from their cousin Bett and their lives were forever changed. The two girls and their very different reactions to situations reminded me a lot of myself and my sister. I am like Milly, retreating from conflict by baking/cooking/reading, while my sister is much more like Twiss who goes...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jun 30, 2012 Marlee Pinsker rated it 3 of 5 stars

I finished this book a few weeks ago. At the time I liked the fact that the storytelling jumped from one time into another like stream of consciousness writing because that is the way people think, mixing up time frames and returning again and again to their favorite themes. I still like that part of the book, but I do feel that in the end these sisters failed at growing up. They didn't help each other realize their destinies, but held themselves and each other back. Did Milly really turn down A...more

like 1 like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Jayme VA rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, src-summer-2012

Twiss and Milly will break your hearts. This is one of the saddest books I've read in a long time.

We start with two old sisters who are known for healing and tending to birds in rural Wisconsin. Alone except for each other, they are the kooky old neighbors the local kids probably think are witches. But how did they end up that way?

We flash back to the girls childhood and teen years and learn about their younger days. A father with big dreams, a mother with arguably bigger dreams, and a life not...more

like 2 likes · see review

Mar 17, 2012 Ruth Seeley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really, this is 4.5 rather than 5 stars and would be five were it not for a tiny quibble I'll mention at the end of my review.

This is one of the most assured debut novels I have ever read - there is not one false word, not one false step. Most of the book alternates chapters of sisters Milly and Twiss in the present day and when they were children growing up in rural Wisconsin, although the alternation gets less strict as the novel proceeds. Milly is the pretty one and Twiss, the younger by two...more Really, this is 4.5 rather than 5 stars and would be five were it not for a tiny quibble I'll mention at the end of my review.

This is one of the most assured debut novels I have ever read - there is not one false word, not one false step. Most of the book alternates chapters of sisters Milly and Twiss in the present day and when they were children growing up in rural Wisconsin, although the alternation gets less strict as the novel proceeds. Milly is the pretty one and Twiss, the younger by two years, is the feisty one. In their old age their claim to fame results from their willingness to attempt and skill at healing injured birds, which people drive for miles to deliver to their old farmhouse.

The two sisters lead the tiniest and most circumscribed of lives for a variety of reasons, not least of which is their complicated parents. In their entire lives, they never leave the state of Wisconsin, never even visit Madison, and probably meet fewer than a thousand people. Their mother has been to France and has 'married down' as they used to say. She's also married neither wisely nor well, to a man who is almost Gatsby-ish in his fervour to climb the social ladder by exploiting his natural talent for golf, a man who is selfish to the core and stubborn about it, yet somehow manages to be hard to hate, perhaps because he's so weak as to be supremely vulnerable.

The novel is a splendid meditation on the nature of love and sacrifice and the inevitable linkage of those two things. It is also a profound exploration of the drama even those who appear to lead the tiniest of lives experience.

Ah yes, my tiny quibble: while the author does explain how the sisters are able to hang onto the family farm due a neighbour's (and their dad's former employer's) generosity, there is no explanation of how they actually manage to survive financially with absolutely no income, even though their survival is of the subsistence variety and of course they're able to grow some of their own food. I hated myself for wondering who was paying the electric and heating bills and the taxes on the farm, but it is a valid question....

Oh - and on the blurb front - the people who *should* be blurbing this book? Carson McCullers, Eudora Welty, Alice Munro, Marilyn French, Gloria Steinem are a few who spring to mind. And yes, I know some of them are prevented by no longer being with us from blurbing....(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Gayle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Milly and Twiss are two sisters separated in age by two years. They appear to be opposites but the ties
between them are very strong. Milly is beautiful and soft-spoken and does whatever it takes to keep peace.
Twiss loves the outdoors and dirt under her fingernails and taking chances and being sarcastic.
There are problems in their parents' marriage. The dad cares only for golf, it seems. The mother feels
neglected, as though her life has passed her by.
The dad moves to the barn and the parents com...more

like · see review

Jul 18, 2011 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-new-to-me

These are the days when Birds come back–
A very few – a Bird or two-
To take a backward look.”
Emily Dickinson

This was another one of our local library’s great reads on the new fiction shelves. The initial pages were so heart wrenching I put the book down for a few days…“Losing a wing was a little like losing a leg and the freedom of movement, of spirit it granted you; most people could live without the former but not the latter”…With great trepidation, I jumped back in. “I keep telling her a bird...more

like · see review

Jul 13, 2011 Diane Prokop rated it 5 of 5 stars

The older I get the more I look back to try and figure out how I got where I am and the more I wonder what lies ahead. When I read the plot line for The Bird Sisters by debut novelist Rebecca Rasmussen, it immediately piqued my curiosity because it tackles that subject matter. The story opens late in the lives of sisters Twiss and Milly who live together in Spring Green, Wisconsin. They are known as the Bird Sisters because they tend to injured birds brought to them by the locals. They grew up...more The older I get the more I look back to try and figure out how I got where I am and the more I wonder what lies ahead. When I read the plot line for The Bird Sisters by debut novelist Rebecca Rasmussen, it immediately piqued my curiosity because it tackles that subject matter. The story opens late in the lives of sisters Twiss and Milly who live together in Spring Green, Wisconsin. They are known as the Bird Sisters because they tend to injured birds brought to them by the locals. They grew up in the house where they will die and spend their last days lost in memories of the events that shaped their destiny.
The reader knows from the outset that the lives of Twiss and Milly were turned upside down at some point and that they did not get what they dreamed of as children. Twiss was the athletic and contrary one to Milly’s sweetness, naivete and beauty. Twiss dreamed of traveling around the world while Milly wanted a husband and family. Rasmussen weaves chapters between the past and the present to explain what happened along the way that led them to the choices they made early on and how it informed the rest of their lives.
Twiss and Milly’s father was a golf pro until an accident stole his golden swing away. Their mother came from a wealthy family but married for love and then grew to regret it. The summer of the accident is the pivotal moment when all of their fates are decided. A visit from their cousin Bett is the ingredient that adds momentum and soon their lives are changed forever. Even Father Rice at their church has a revelation that leaves them all reeling.
This character-driven novel is based on a story that Rasmussen heard from her grandmother and it is probably this fact that makes it ring so true. It is a sweet but heart-wrenching tale of a family challenged on all fronts and how they cope and survive. Thankfully, it is never cloying or trite. There is a darkness and depth to Twiss and Milly that makes them multi-dimensional and not quite predictable. The dialogue is spare but rich.
The theme of two elderly sisters living out their final days together resonates with me and probably will with a lot of others. It’s refreshing to have main characters be past the “golden” years of youth - elderly characters are mostly neglected in literature these days. And perhaps it made me think of my own sister. We’ve always said that if something happens to our husbands we will move in together to live out our days coming full circle from when we shared a room growing up. It’s both disturbing and comforting to remember that our family makes up the ties that bind us to this world.
And though we won’t repair broken birds as the Bird Sisters did, we might be there to provide sustenance - my sister with a five-course gourmet meal for which she is renowned and me with a muddled mojito. As for all of our vast differences, in the end we would be as Twiss described the melding of she and Milly: “together, they made one regular person.”
The Bird Sisters is uniquely quirky and an enjoyable read through and through and I hope to see more from Rasmussen soon.
(less)

like 1 like · see review

Jun 08, 2011 Peggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found this book to be very difficult to read because of the sentence structure the author used. I I had to re-read many paragraphs to understand the meaning of them. Much of the writing was done in such a way that the second half of the sentence negated what the first half of the sentence said.

The story is about two sisters (as different as can be) gorwing up with two parents who no longer wish to be together. The father moves to the barn, bascially withdrawing from the family. He was a golf p...more

like 1 like · see review

May 20, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

“The sagging skin beneath her knees told one story. The liver spots on her hands told another.” We first meet Milly and Twiss as aged old maid sisters. They live in a small town in Wisconsin and as they aged they became caretakers for injured birds but now very few people come by with birds to care for. One such person does deliver a bird and makes a thoughtless remark to Milly, the sweeter less crotchety sister. This begins a series of flashbacks alternating with the present so that we meet the...more

like 1 like · see review

May 01, 2011 Denise rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Bird Sisters tells the sad, sweet story of Milly and Twiss, sisters born to parents who long for everything they can't have. Their father is a golf pro, a golden boy always looking for the admiration and respect that comes with his talent for golf, until he suddenly loses that talent and has to remake himself. Their mother longs for glamour and style as spends her days trying to make ends meet in a small, backwater town. Milly works to comfort and hold her family together with elaborate and...more

like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Melissa Crytzer Fry rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you were to strip away the lovely prose, the larger-than-life characters, and the exquisite rural Wisconsin setting of Rebecca Rasmussen’s debut novel, you’d find a simple theme at its heart: a story of truth and consequence.

But THE BIRD SISTERS is not simple; it is so much more. A book that chronicles the lives of two elderly spinster sisters in alternating chapters between the past (1947) and present, the story illustrates the power of choice – that even the smallest decisions can have the...more

like 5 likes · see review

Apr 12, 2011 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-favorite-read

"Whenever a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds' heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can't, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who've brought them. The two sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health."

Known to most, in the small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin, as "The Bird Sisters", life for these spinster sisters, destined them to always be together. As y...more "Whenever a bird flies into a window in Spring Green, Wisconsin, sisters Milly and Twiss get a visit. Twiss listens to the birds' heartbeats, assessing what she can fix and what she can't, while Milly listens to the heartaches of the people who've brought them. The two sisters have spent their lives nursing people and birds back to health."

Known to most, in the small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin, as "The Bird Sisters", life for these spinster sisters, destined them to always be together. As young girls, Milly, was a beautiful girl, who was in love with Asa; she dreamed of marriage and children. Twiss, was somewhat of a fun-loving, wild spirit who enjoyed her freedom. Life, as we know, does not always turn out as we planned, and for Milly and Twiss, the summer of 1947, when the sisters were teenagers, was the turning point in their lives that carved out what would be their future--- growing old together in their childhood home.

The story moves from present time back to that summer of 1947, and it is told in alternating chapters. The reader gets a glimpse into the sister's parents troubled marriage, their mother's frustrations and regrets, their father's downward fall from his job as a respected golf pro, and also what transpired the summer older cousin Bette came to visit. Bit by bit the reader understands the events that determined the course of their adult lives.

From the very beginning I was anxious to find out what happened that was so horrible to cause the lives of Milly and Twiss to turn out the way they did. The sister characters are so finely honed, so much so that I felt emotionally invested in them early on. Although their lives made me sad, I admired how devoted they were to one another. There is so much more that I could say, however, I want to be careful not to say too much. The Bird Sisters was a terrific debut novel. It's written in a style that worked well for me: a character driven novel with memorable but flawed characters, a story that hooks you early on and keeps you turning the pages, and just one of those stories that will keep me talking about this book for a long while.

In some ways this book made me think of (2) other books I read and loved as well over the last several years: Tomato Girl; Jane Pupek and Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt; Beth Hoffman. As with The Bird Sisters, these books left a lasting impression, each were debut novels, and each in their own way moved me deeply. Three MUST READS for your summer reading list.

I loved reading what the author says, inspired her to write this story -----

From the Author
I grew up in Spring Green, Wisconsin, but I also grew up in Northfield, Illinois--sadly, when I was a baby, my parents divorced. Because my life was split between the two places, I never really felt that either belonged to me and I still don't today. I suppose that's why in my fiction, I pay very close attention to place; I'm constantly searching for a way to make home feel like home. My stories tend to come out of the swollen look of a river, or an iced over fishing hole, or a bird on a winter branch. The idea for The Bird Sisters came out of two things: my curiosity about my grandmother and her family history, and my devotion to finding the answer to the ongoing question in my life: what does it mean to be home? For Milly and Twiss, I extended the question a little bit further: what does it mean to stay there? My grandmother Kathryn--Kit, she liked to be called--lost both of her parents when she was seventeen, her mother by way of Scarlett Fever (although the people who knew her best said she died of a broken heart) and her father by way of a broken leg and then a fatal blood clot. Her father, my great grandfather, was a wonderfully talented golfer who gave lessons to wealthy members of whatever golf course he was working at. Unfortunately, my great grandfather turned out to be a wonderfully talented philanderer, too. Those are the facts; what interests me is what came between them. My grandmother lived her life with questions about her parents that she couldn't bring herself to ask. "They were the best parents ever," she'd say one day, but then another she'd say, "I don't know if they really were." She carried a loneliness around inside of her that she couldn't bear to share with anyone because talking about what had happened made her more and more uncertain about whether or not she was loved. My grandmother had a sister named Virginia, whom she wrote a card to a few times a year and visited even less frequently. I've always wondered what might have happened if she and Virginia had been able to hold onto each other when everything else was slipping away from them. I've always wondered if my grandmother might have then found happiness in her life. Milly and Twiss are my gift to her, my proof of love. The book is a gift to myself, proof that I have a home in the hills of Spring Green, in the green of the rivergrass and the brown of the fields beyond. Writing the book, which I completed during my tenure in the MFA Program at the University of Massachusetts, has taught me that home doesn't always translate to four sturdy white walls. The Bird Sisters is my first novel. (less)

like 6 likes · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Lydia Presley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, 2011-debut, family, fiction

First of all, I want to thank Beth Hoffman for bringing Rebecca Rasmussen to my attention. Not only is she a completely sweet lady, but she writes a fantastic story.

Milly and Twiss are a bit eccentric, but also real, breathing characters that give this story so much charm and make it a joy to read. In spite of the books careful pathing through the story, I found myself unable to put it down until I reached the conclusion - and even then I turned the page whispering "Please, just a few more pages...more

like 2 likes · see review

Jul 30, 2012 Sheri rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: coming-of-age, male-female-power-sex-attractivenes, poverty-class-issues

This novel was very readable and quite compelling. I enjoyed the narrator's tone and the girl's wit throughout. Overall, though, it wasn't remarkable. There were a few minor problems with plot/timeline and utimately, I did not feel that Milly would have given Asa to Bett (or that Asa would have taken her). Yes, Milly's character is to never think of herself; but we do see her think of herself on fair day when she pushes Twiss and spends the day under the bleachers. I understand why she didn't th...more This novel was very readable and quite compelling. I enjoyed the narrator's tone and the girl's wit throughout. Overall, though, it wasn't remarkable. There were a few minor problems with plot/timeline and utimately, I did not feel that Milly would have given Asa to Bett (or that Asa would have taken her). Yes, Milly's character is to never think of herself; but we do see her think of herself on fair day when she pushes Twiss and spends the day under the bleachers. I understand why she didn't think she could leave Twiss at that time, but she is only 16...certainly she could accept Asa's proposal, but wait two years for the wedding. I also wasn't sure why everyone was so interested in Bett. I understood Mr. Peterson's attentions to be amorous; wouldn't he have been interested in a young, if not so beautiful wife?

Certainly, part of the reason Milly relinquishes Asa is out of fear of romantic love. Both her mother and her aunt puportedly married for love and both are miserable as adults. Milly would not have to give up anything (in fact Asa is quite above her social standing), but I would have liked to see Rassmussen explore this aspect of Millly's character more: does she put Bett and Asa together because she thinks they will have a better chance at happiness (or at least contentment), if they are not in love?

On a note slightly more petty, I was frustrated by a few conveniences (as always). I thought that Milly saw the tonic bottles in the attic and then lead back to the fair story was unnecesary. She had been thinking of that summer and the day of the fair all day as she did her chores. We (the reader) did not need a reason for her to go back to the story. THEN, in describing the fair day, it turns out that Twiss sold all the jars (yes she then had to return some, but those jars would have been opened and would not have been kept in the attic). Sloppy and convenient. I was also absolutely furious when Milly and Twiss find Father Rice on the river on the day of the wedding. OMG such a stupid ploy. He has no right to be there and if Rassmussen wanted to give us some of his wisdom, Milly could have found a packet of letters up in the attic that she had not previously read in which Twiss and Rice discuss the whole episode.

There were, however, a few good truthful moments: "It isn't a sweet as it used to be, they'd say, when what they really meant was I'm almost used to being unhappy." and "'Everything we do is for ourselves,' their father said. 'That doesn't take away the goodness of the act, though.'"

Decent entertainment for a summer day, but nothing really noteworthy.(less)

like 1 like · see review

Dec 20, 2011 Jodi rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: chick-lit

Quick, enjoyable read about the relationships between various family members between the 1940s to the present time with most of it occurring over one changing summer in the 1940s that changed all their lives forever. I felt a tiny tingle inside every time the book mentioned Spring Green, Wisconsin where the book is set as my husband grew up not far from there, and I have been to this tiny little town many times - have a few favorite places to shop there. Anyway, the book really could have taken...more

like · see review

Jan 07, 2013 Jen A. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, kindle

2.5 stars. I wanted to like The Bird Sisters, I really did. I wanted to fall in love with the charm of a book that can talk about something so directly without almost talking about it at all, but overall I felt like I just had to work too hard at it, and thus didn't really end up liking it at all.

Milly & Twiss are interesting characters, but we really don't come to know much about them as old ladies as most of the book looks back at their childhood, with emphasis on the one summer their cou...more

like 1 like · see review

Aug 22, 2011 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, chick-lit

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Jul 21, 2012 Annie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found this book predictable. And for those of you who have read this you might be thinking "Oh come on! You did not!" but honestly, I saw the whole plot unfold before my eyes before I finished the 3rd chapter. I don't want to be a spoiler (really! I do try ;)) but it was like "yeah... read it before. Not surprising." And while it was dramatic and very "real" in ways, it was also, like I said - just not surprising enough for me to be more than "eh" at the end.
Also, I found it pretty long-winde...more

like 2 likes · see review

May 11, 2013 MissSusie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, audio, 2013, bookclub-read-possible

My original review is below so I will just review the audio version of this re-read for bookclub.

Xe Sands truly embodied these two sisters her narration was soft and wistful as these sisters are, her delivery of this beautiful book was spot on. I was very happy I was able to re-read this on audio with the wonderful narrator!

I can’t wait for Rebecca Rasmussen’s new book!

Original Review:

Read This Book!!Enough Said!

Oh ok I’ll add more

You will love these sisters, so close yet so different Twiss has...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 25, 2013 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Bird Sisters is the debut novel of Rebecca Rasmussen. The setting is summer of 1947 in Spring Green, Wisconsin where sisters Molly and Twiss are forming their views of life. Their father, a golf pro, at the local country club had aways felt inferior and believed the only way he could gain respect was by playing a superior game of golf. After driving his car off a bridge, he lost his powerful golf swing that began the downward spiral of his marriage. His wife was the daughter of a rich jewele...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Sisterhood of the...: The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen	2	5	Apr 25, 2013 09:17pm
Read It Forward: THE BIRD SISTERS by Rebecca Rasmussen	11	33	Mar 21, 2012 09:58pm
Ladies' Home Jour...: Let's Talk About: The Bird Sisters - December 2011/January 2012	1	10	Mar 14, 2012 02:02pm

combine
Other Editions (12)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

6 comments

Genres

Historical Fiction

49 users

Adult Fiction

13 users

Womens Fiction > Chick Lit

13 users

Contemporary

11 users

Family

9 users

Book Club

8 users

Literary Fiction

8 users

Novels

7 users

Womens

6 users

Realistic Fiction

5 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Art of Devotion
by Samantha Bruce-Benjamin
The Tapestry of Love
by Rosy Thornton
Touch
by Alexi Zentner
The Four Ms. Bradwells
by Meg Waite Clayton
Stiltsville
by Susanna Daniel

About Rebecca Rasmussen

I am the author of the novels Evergreen (forthcoming from Knopf) and The Bird Sisters (Crown), but I am also a mother, wife, teacher, pie baker, nature swooner, birder, lover of all things old...

Thank you for visiting me on Goodreads!

More about Rebecca Rasmussen...

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Bird Sisters

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Bird Sisters

“Life and death- what paltry words, what tarnished bookends,what unjust summation for drawing breath one moment and failing to release it the next.” — 11 people liked it

“This book I'm reading says if you want to be as thin as a stalk of celery, then that's what you should be eating. I'm not sure I want to look like celery, but I know I don't want to look like a biscuit.” — 8 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Bird Sisters
avg rating	preview: The Bird Sisters Goodreads rating: 3.31 (1986 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8755291-the-bird-sisters?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320549291l/8755291.jpg[/img][/url] [url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8755291-the-bird-sisters?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Bird Sisters by Rebecca Rasmussen[/url]

The Bird Sisters

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website