Migratory Animals

by Mary Helen Specht

A powerful debut novel about a group of 30-somethings struggling for connection and belonging, Migratory Animals centers on a protagonist who finds herself torn between love and duty

When Flannery, a young scientist, is forced to return to Austin from five years of research in Nigeria, she becomes torn between her two homes. Having left behind her loving fiancé without knowing when she can return, Flan learns that her sister, Molly, has begun to show signs of the crippling genetic disease that slowly killed their mother.

As their close-knit circle of friends struggles with Molly’s diagnosis, Flannery must grapple with what her future will hold: an ambitious life of love and the pursuit of scientific discovery in West Africa, or the pull of a life surrounded by old friends, the comfort of an old flame, family obligations, and the home she’s always known. But she is not the only one wrestling with uncertainty. Since their college days, each of her friends has faced unexpected challenges that make them reevaluate the lives they’d always planned for themselves.

A mesmerizing debut from an exciting young writer, Migratory Animals is a moving, thought-provoking novel, told from shifting viewpoints, about the meaning of home and what we owe each other—and ourselves.

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Novels, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, American, Book Club

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2014

About the author

Born and raised in Abilene, Texas, Mary Helen Specht has a B.A. in English from Rice University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College, where she won the department’s fiction award. Her writing has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes and has appeared in numerous publications, including: The New York Times; The Colorado Review; Prairie Schooner; Michigan Quarterly Review; The Southwest Review; Florida Review; Southwestern American Literature; World Literature Today; Blue Mesa; Hunger Mountain; Bookslut; The Texas Observer; and Night Train, where she won the Richard Yates Short Story Award.

A past Fulbright Scholar to Nigeria and Dobie-Paisano Writing Fellow, Specht teaches creative writing at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Her first novel, Migratory Animals, will be published by Harper Perennial on January 20, 2015.

Reviews

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the cover of this book and yes, the birds do mean something. It is also the first book where I would personally like to meet all the main characters. This group of friends, two are siblings, are now in their thirties and are at a crossroads in their professional lives and personal ones. The book is narrated by a few different people, so we get different viewpoints.

I enjoyed this story, which deals with some important issues such as Huntington disease, depression, climate changes and childbirth. There is one part in this book when the main male characters attend a cooking class that had me laughing out loud. It has been a while since a book has done that, Just typing this makes me smile. There is happiness and sorrow as they try to figure out where they will go from here. Since I liked all the characters some of their choices made me sad. So a good book, well written, very descriptive at times, learn a bit about Nigeria and some wonderful characters.

Arc from publisher.

[Tamsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

30-something hipsters dealing with life and you know what, it's haaaard. [Sidebar: I'm totally referencing a skit in an episode of Robot Chicken mocking the Hills, where everything is haaaaard.]

The writing isn't terrible, although there are some weird italicized flashbacks that I don't really understand the point of, and the author feels the need to explain everything from birds to ice crystals to looms in detail that I'm not sure is necessary. The hipsters are hipsters, which isn't too annoying, I guess (one runs his own CSA/farm, another is renovating a firehouse for home/business use, one woman is a tapestry weaving artist, another woman is a white woman who luuurves Africa). I couldn't figure it out if my frustration with the book was a sum of little things or if it had more to do with the friend group itself. They all live in the same town 10-15 years after college, and they all seem weirdly dependent on each other. The non-ending of oh yeah, life is haaard, but we just need to power on and celebrate everything and ignore the big stuff, was strange too. Not a fan.

[Sherry Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted so badly to fall in love with this book – thematically and conceptually, it was both beautiful and thought-provoking – but no matter how much I tried I just couldn’t get excited about it. It started out well, as the protagonist Flannery leaves her partner and work in Nigeria to visit her family back in the States. She discovers her sister is sick with the same illness their mother had, which leads to mixed feelings about going home and further drama with her old friendship group. Flannery is a scientist, and I love books that have science/scientists in it, so couldn’t wait to see how her story developed. But despite the drama (everyone seemed to have some kind of illness, inner demon or unrequited love), the characters seemed to lack heart and personality. Everyone in the friendship group was either an architect, engineer, artist or scientist, which wasn’t particularly believable.

That being said, I very much enjoyed the themes and concepts. Among other things, it explored climate change, cultural imperialism and migration. Mary Helen Specht is a talented writer, and it’s clear that she has studied writing at a high level. She has a tight grasp of language and there were moments where I wanted to underline particularly powerful images and descriptions. All in all, I liked the book, but just wish that the characters had stronger voices and perhaps a touch of humour.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Migratory Animals
By
Mary Helen Specht



What it's all about...

The key character in this book seems to be Flannery but she has a circle of friends and a sister...Molly...who are also integral to this book. Flannery is a scientist who has spent the last five years in Nigeria. She is engaged to a Nigerian. Flannery's family carries the gene for Huntington's Disease. Actually Flannery doesn't carry it but her mother died from it and her sister carries the gene and seems to be coming down with the disease.

Why I wanted to read it...

I love relationship books and this book is filled with relationships and a teensie bit of dysfunction, too. Molly has an interesting complication along with her illness. Alyce, another friend in their circle, is going through a seemingly mild depression and has asked her husband Harry and their young sons to leave for a while so that she can be alone while Molly visits her. Another friend... Santiago...was Flannery's significant other at one time. Brendan...Molly's husband...another scientist...just seems to cope. Flannery is working with cloud seeding and wants to get back to Nigeria and her fiancé. Santiago is still hung up on Flannery. At times no one seems to be in the right relationship.

What made me truly enjoy this book...

It's kind of a sad book with unique and interesting multilayered characters. As I read each character's story I worried about their decisions, their mental health and that impact on the outcomes of their lives. I wanted them to find their way and be ok.

Why you should read it, too...

This book is written very beautifully and in a way that made me feel for each character. Their paths were complicated...they made choices I would never have made but those choices made this book lovely...a little sad but still lovely.

[Bonnie Brody · Rating 2 out of 5]

Migratory Animals is a debut novel with both good and bad aspects. It reminded me of 'The Big Chill' revisited. There are several books in this genre and I had to ask myself if there is a good reason to add one more. I don't think there is.

The story begins as Flannery, a scientist, returns to Austin, Texas from Nigeria, ostensibly to seek more money for her research project. She has been in Nigeria for five years and is in love with a Nigerian named Kunle whom she met shortly after she arrived in Nigeria. Once she returns to the United States, she knows there will be temptation to remain here and not return to the poverty, chaos, and cultural differences in Nigeria.

Flannery's mother died of Huntington's disease, a progressive neurological disease, genetic in origin. Flannery has escaped this death sentence but her younger sister, Molly, is beginning to show signs of the disease and is in denial of what is to come.

Also in the picture is Santiago, an architect who was once Flannery's lover and is now her good friend though he still hopes for a renewal of their relationship. Because it is the 1980's, there is a recession and his business is not going to well.

Alyce, Flannery's best friend, once an aeronautical engineer, left that career in order to do weavings. Part of the reason she left the field of engineering is that she is very depressed and could not continue with her work anymore. She constantly thinks of dying but does not want to leave her two young boys motherless.

All of the characters live in Austin and they attended college together so this is, in many aspects, a reunion. They are all together again after a long time apart. The reader witnesses the schisms in marriages, relationships, friendships and families.

The book doesn't examine the characters as deeply as I'd hoped it would. They all have some superficial 'labels' that can be attached to each of them. For instance, Alyce is 'depressed', Molly is 'dying of Huntington's', Santiago is 'in love with Flannery', etc. There are moments when the book soars a bit and the language draws the reader in. However, there is not as much of that as I needed In order to make the book one I wanted to finish. I finished it reluctantly, able to guess at the outcome. There are not great revelations and things unfold as one would expect.

[Jessica J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Consider this a very strong three and a half stars. The writing here is pretty solid. The only reason I came down a star is that the story itself wasn't as consistently strong.

Flannery is a climate scientist who has lived in Nigeria for the past five years. When her lab's grant runs out, she leaves her fiancee behind to return home to Texas. The plan is that she will work on her research long enough to find new funding and then go back "home" to Africa. Upon arriving in Texas, however, she realizes that her sister Molly is demonstrating symptoms of Huntington's disease, the genetic disease that killed their mother many years earlier.

The marketing copy for the book suggests that this book is primarily about Flannery's decision to stay in Texas with her sister or return to Africa to be with the man she loves, so I was a little disappointed to realize that's not quite an accurate description. The narration focuses not just on Flannery and Molly, but also several members of their friend group -- Flan's exboyfriend Santiago, college roommate Alyce, and Molly and Alyce's husbands. Including all of these voices in such a relatively short novel (under 300 pages) felt like a little too much. There were times when the plot felt a little lacking in focus -- it didn't hit the thematic elements as hard as it could have, and I ultimately didn't feel as invested in the two sisters as I would have liked to.

I also felt like the end kind of came out of nowhere, because we hadn't truly built up to it. This might have been four stars had it not been for the underwhelming final 20 pages.

That being said, I very much enjoyed Specht's abilities as a writer and I hope to read more from her down the line.

[Julia Tulloh Harper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had really high hopes for this one as I love Mary Helen Specht's non-fiction writing, which I've read in the Texas Observer, and her short fiction which has been published in a range of US journals. While I liked some of this book I think it struggled with focus and in the end I couldn't finish it. There were so many different characters that it was hard to absorb (the story is not that long, so the narrative seemed a bit thinly spread over so many characters). Enjoyed Molly and Flan's storylines - these two developed well and had really good character arcs. They were distinct characters, complicated, both likable and unlikeable in different ways. I think the novel would have been tighter had it been just about those two and not all their friends as well... I can't tell you much about the other characters as they all blurred together a bit for me. Specht's writing style is lovely, though - extremely clear and detailed - and her descriptions of Flan's life in Nigeria were wonderful, very evocative and specific.
There's a bit of tendency in the writing to over-explain everything, including frequent paragraphs of details about the 'past' that didn't seem that relevant to the story...I suppose those sections were there to help flesh out character and evoke the themes of memory, nostalgia and the passing of life, but I found they held up the actual plot to the point where I would lose concentration completely.
I really look forward to Specht's future work, though - she has the makings of a brilliant writer, with a clear voice and style. I expect her work will only improve as time goes by, based on the great quality of her short stories and non-fiction articles.

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally appeared in this blog post: http://ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2...

This book caught my attention last autumn and I was so excited to read it that I skipped over others in my TBR. Totally not like me at all but I loved every page of this novel. A female scientist returns to the States from Nigeria and faces the impending loss of her sister. She believes herself to be one woman in Nigeria but quickly digresses to her previous self when returning to her family. I related with this schism of others' expectations and your true self. This novel was beautiful and I would label it as a non-traditional "chick-lit" book with an intelligent main character and diverse cast of characters.

[DJ Sakata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite Quotes:

“Kunle was untainted by the loss and heartbreak Flannery’s family dragged behind it like a lizard’s tail.”


“His father was a Mexican who didn’t much like Mexicans, and it was only later than Santi became to wonder what that might do to a person’s psyche.”


“Over time, Molly would discover there were all sorts of baggage and sharp edges to these people who eventually became her closest circle. But in that moment, looking at them from the outside, all she could see were lives that existed inside an upturned snow globe. Glittering in the light.”


“How long had Santiago been hounded by the slippage between what he was and what he needed to be to make Flannery happy?”


“The three women wore flowery sundresses and various incarnations of what she and Molly used to call ‘Savior sandals.’ Like Lou, the three women were unshaven, bursts of black hair beneath their armpits like grass growing from the crack of a rock. It made Flan fell suburban and overly groomed.”


My Review:

Migratory Animals is a smartly written book, densely populated with meaty sentences and thoughtful words. It made me remember and it made me think. It was exquisite. It is something to savor, and I admit – I savored it. More than a few times, I had to stop and reread passages, as I was totally in awe of how the thoughts and feelings had been so aptly and insightfully expressed. This is not merely a story, it is literary art. An eclectic and intelligent group of people with actually very little in common, meet, become friends, and bond while living in the same college housing. Throughout the subsequent years, they are in and out of each other’s lives - feeling, sharing, and bringing pain and support as they age and occasionally stop to contemplate their pasts and present lives. I saw myself repeatedly in this missive, and felt as if I had been sucker punched more than a few times. At times the story grew heavy, at other times, nostalgic. I experienced a full range of emotion as I read, from playful to melancholy - I smiled, I grimaced, and I stewed, but I loved every bit of it and wanted more.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this through first reads on Goodreads
A beautifully written, descriptive and thought provoking novel. This is the story about a group of friends, who had met in college and of a relationship between two sisters, Molly who finds out she has developed Huntington's disease, a genetic disease which had killed their mother and Flannery returning home from Africa, where she left a fianc_, so that she could do some research back home,with the thought of returning to her fianc_ once she raised some money. The group of friends are composed of ex lovers, best friends, husbands and wives, each with their own hardships and all trying to find out where they fit in life.
The story takes us back and forth from when they all first met to present day, giving us a good view of the dynamics of their friendships.
The descriptions the author gives us of each of these characters lives, places they have lived, their feelings and aspirations really draw one into each of these people and really brings them to life.
Fascinating details of the scientific studies, life in Africa, the art of weaving and an insight into a heart wrenching disease. This story has a bit of everything, and as the author stated of the __what ifs__.
This was a unique story and one I highly recommend.

[Jaclyn Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, a group of adults who became friends in grad school reunite when one of the members–Flannery–returns to Texas from Nigeria where she’s been working in climate research for several years. She leaves behind her fiance, Kunle, but promises to return to him soon. Each chapter follows a different person, starting with Flannery. There is Santiago, Flannery’s former boyfriend, and Molly, Flannery’s younger sister who is beginning to show signs of Huntington’s disease (which killed their mother). And then there is Alyce, Flannery’s best friend, who is married with two young children and struggling mightily with depression and anxiety. The writing in this book is exquisite–poetic and beautiful, especially in the Alyce chapters. You can feel her palpable, simultaneous numbness and pain, and when she finally smiles at one point, you feel the beauty of that too.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone who saw me reading this book with the birds on the cover assumed I was reading about real animals. I kept saying: It is not about animals; it is about people. But at the time I could not figure out the meaning of the title. Although the title was later explained, my interpretation grew to mean the way people migrate through their lives. In this case, the characters with problems or flaws move towards better selves.

This is not my kind of book but how impressed I was that the author knew or had troubled herself to know so much about weaving and looms, the science of snowflakes, living in Nigeria with a male partner, and how to describe place, action and character in language that is matchless. This is an author with prizes already under her belt to watch.

The story? Sisters and friends who suffer and grow.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was impressed with a number of things about this book.

It's very emotionally driven with a swath of interesting characters. The change in narrator gives us a chance to see how each person ticks and what they're hiding as they interact with each other and gave the story a lot of depth. Following the struggles of each character there are a lot of triumphs and tragedies that they face that blends into a well written story.

[Lily P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle

Several passages in this book were so beautifully written, I stopped, reread them, underlined them, thought about them well after that chapter had finished.

My rating is more a reflection of disappointment in the story. I wanted more.

We drop in on a group of 30 something friends/lovers/spouses as one of them returns from several years in Nigeria, another learns she has Huntington's Disease and is pregnant, another is going bankrupt, another is severely clinically depressed. On the one hand there's too much in the story. Each of the characters and each of their issues felt a little--too much, too representational of trying to to capture important issues of our world in society in one story. And on the other hand the story felt too little. Bouncing from one to another view points, I never really bonded with or rooted for any of the characters . . . except perhaps Kunle. I really liked him and wish we'd gotten to know him better. He doesn't get a voice, he's left in Nigeria.

I was appreciative of the deep dive explanations and narrative of things like how snow flakes are made and the intricate process of weaving.

The book felt reminiscent of "The Big Chill", another story of college friends of a certain economic class, and a certain point in time coming together as adults--no longer college kids--and sorting out the complexities of inter relationships now that they are married, perhaps parents, perhaps struggling with health and/or fertility issues. Like that movie, I didn't really relate to this group of friends. I also didn't particularly want to ever meet them.

The ambition of this book was remarkable. It tackles many current issues: climate change, colonialism, racism, abortion, depression, Huntington's Disease, family secrets and trauma. I respect the ambition. I loved some of the writing. I am disappointed that I couldn't connect and care very deeply about the characters.

That said . . . it's the end of the book, the AFTER the end of the book that was 5 stars. Reading the authors notes about the book in "The Seed of a Novel" was more fascinating than the story itself. That story is the one I really wanted to read. Specht writes about her Fulbright scholar graduate experiences in Nigeria. The information about Nigeria's literary heritage, recommendations of authors and books had me pulling out my notebook and looking them up online.

RECOMMEND, especially the after book notes.

[C.C. Rising · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would you do if your family member had a gut-wrenching disease and needed your help, but was too proud to ask? Would you pretend not to notice the telltale signs of the disease, distance yourself, or ask what you could do? Those questions slap main character Flannery in the face and serve as the tapestry of "Migratory Animals." The novel is good because each of us will eventually have to answer those questions.

For the most part, Flannery, a climate scientist in Nigeria, runs from her younger sister Molly's Huntington's disease, the same illness that felled the girls' mother when they were young and Flannery was the main caregiver. The only reason Flannery moves back "temporarily" to Austin, Texas, where Molly and their tight-knit brainy college friends still live, is that she seeks funding to continue her climate research in Nigeria. Flannery makes her intentions abundantly clear to Molly, moons about the Nigerian boyfriend she left behind, and dashes Molly's hopes time and again about reconnecting over a cup of coffee or dinner.

Flannery's behavior seemed cruel to me. I found it hard to understand her appeal--especially why ex-boyfriend Santiago still pines for her and Molly idolizes her. Maybe it's because Flannery's compassion towards Molly comes too late.

By far, the most inspiring and honest character is Molly. Though Molly knows she can't outrun her disease, she does not succumb to victimhood or hopelessness. She chooses to embrace life and make
one final decision about leaving a legacy, no matter the cost.

[Cyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I was very much looking forward to it--delighted to have won it--and enjoyed it a great deal.

The novel is set in motion when Flannery, a (white) American woman who has been living and working in Nigeria for several years and is engaged to a Nigerian man, has to return to the US after the scientific project she's working on runs into funding issues. Once back in Texas she reunites with family--chiefly her younger sister who is starting to show signs of Huntington's disease, which killed their mother--and friends, all of whom attended college together.

The vantage point cycles through many of these characters, but mainly Flannery, her sister, best friend Alyce, and Santiago with whom she had been romantically involved before going to Africa.

The central question hanging over much of the book is "Will Flannery return to Nigeria?" something she has said she plans to do but surely she won't--it is assumed by some--with her sister sick. The book asks other questions like who is responsible for whom--not just inter-personally but globally? Where is home? Where do we belong?

One thing I at least think Mary Helen Specht handled with deftness and sensitivity was Flannery's relationship with her fiance Kunle, his family and other Nigerians as well as Africa in general. While she certainly has lessons to learn she doesn't really walk in with a lot of preconceived notions and she does notice when something turns out differently than she'd anticipated. Because she is a white westerner she believes Nigerians will view her as an outsider but instead she is regarded as a bit of a celebrity. (Still an outsider but she's treated better than the character of Angie, an African American in Nigeria, in Into the Go-Slow) Later in the book when Kunle suggests she is doing something not for Nigeria, but for herself, she takes this to heart.

I'm looking forward to more work by Mary Helen Specht

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sounded like a character driven book and I was not disappointed. This is an exploration of a group of friends and how you cannot run away from your past, you can only deal with it. It's about life that will recycle old problems in new ways until you finally deal with what is in front of you. It deals with death, suicide, hard decisions, love, laughter and friendship. What I also loved about this novel is that the characters are a variety of those in the human race and not all are on the US continent. I really enjoyed characters with mixed heritage.

As you travel through this time period with the friends you only hope that good things come to them in the end. While that happens for some, it does not happen for all. However, it isn't a depressing book and all seem to be where they need to be for the next step in life. My only complaint is that we don't know what happens to Flannery (the person we both start and stop with in this book) in her love life but while I hate that, the ending did feel complete.

I give this book 4 stars. If you want something in character exploration with a cast that are as individual as the people you know, I recommend this book.

[Dawne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am very excited about this book, which reminds me of Jhumpa Lahiri's work--taut sentences, details grounded in place, and characters experiencing the pull of different cultures, families, and expectations. What impressed me, too, was the seriousness of work for both the male and female characters, who deal with thwarted ambitions, disappointment, and ill-conceived complexes. (Jonathan Yardley, Washing Post's critic, once complained that work played no role in the misfit characters created by Grace Paley; so I wonder what he would think of a book where men cook without conscious awareness of their gender role and women aspire to turn back ecological apocalypse.) The language of work too gives the prose an interesting texture. I thought the strongest emotional nexus was the friendship between Alyce, the mother overwhelmed by her role, and Molly, pregnant and newly diagnosed with a fatal illness. Here are two characters that I can't imagine women of a certain age not reading and being deeply moved.

[Zhanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out so promising! The beginning is intriguing and the prose is so well-written. But then I was halfway in and I realized I still couldn't really differentiate between the four extremely similar male characters, and of the three female characters, two of them were pretty detestable. The only redeemable character was Molly, a woman dying from Huntington's, and she was hardly in it at all. Also, the group of friends are constantly remarking how wonderful it is to have each other, but something about their interactions seem superficial and unenviable. I also thought it was a little unrealistic that every single one of them is failing in what they set out to do in life. The odds are that at least a couple would be doing okay... Actually that was probably the main problem for me, that it didn't feel realistic. Good intentions, poor execution.

[Mallory · Rating 2 out of 5]

I genuinely did not care for this book.

The story revolves around an implausibly close group of friends in the liberal Austin Tx area. I am a liberal myself, but the constant references to hipster / liberal issues got so old. The white savior of Nigeria, the ladies who don’t shave their underarms, farmers markets, craft beer, etc. I kept thinking to myself “We get it. We GET it. WE GET IT.” Further, after keeping up with all the twists and turns of the characters, the major storylines don’t have much resolution. We don’t know if Molly’s baby will have Huntington’s too, we don’t know if Flannery will make it back to Africa, will Harry or Santi ever get jobs again etc.

The author is obviously a very intelligent woman. I am however unlikely to read any further material from her.

[Lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sad, dark story took me a while to get through. I had to put the book down and was not overly eager to pick it up again. I think that speaks to the connection I felt with the characters. I was rooting for them the whole time, but it just felt so desperate. And real life like, I suppose. I enjoy books with scientists and this fit that bill. There was illness both mental and physical, which was probably the toughest aspect for me. The language and character development was spot on. I think I could revisit this book in the future and come away with entirely different outlook. Looking forward to other works by Specht.

[Viccy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt, this is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read; it is cinematic in scope: "...the whole tree shook its head at her. A flock of birds swept from the branches, crackling the leaves." Flannery returns to Texas for her imperfect family, from Nigeria, and she has to confront their craziness. In Nigeria, she is in love with Kunle and they have decided to get married, first in the States and then, again, in Nigeria. This is a novel looking inward, slowly revealing the interior lives of all the characters.

[Andrea MacPherson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I was really drawn to the characters, and their complex, overlapping struggles. Multiple POVs are always a weakness for me, and they were especially successful in this narrative. Specht has a light, lovely touch with language.

That's not to say that I didn't have some issues with the novel. The ending(s) felt a bit rushed, a couple secondary characters were unnecessary, and there were areas where research was apparent, and slowed down the story.

But the positives absolutely outweigh these concerns.

[Catherine Shattuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delicate prose and a story that made me set down the book so many times to try and capture the fleeting memories of my own college days. This is one of those magical books that teaches you beautiful things you never knew -- about the shape of snowflakes and the journey of purple martins, about weaving color and cloth into story and the homeplace we all crave.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book...it hit close to home, as the main character, Flannery had similar decisions to make with her life as I did. If you like feeling alot of emotions, this is a book for you. It has family dysfunction, friendships that are tested, some that are made anew, heartache, heartbreak, and a mind finding some long-needed peace. Mary Helen is a wonderful storyteller!

[Patricia Geller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would of given this book a 4.5. It is not earth shakering but a totally satisfactory read about the lives of a group of college friends as they move through their lives, with a focus on one who lives in West Africa. I was happy to pick up where I left off. Great book for traveling with short chapters from different people's perspectives. An easy read without being shallow.

[Shawna Seed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reviewed Mary Helen Specht's impressive debut novel, Migratory Animals, for The Dallas Morning News. You can find the full text of my review here:

http://bit.ly/1IwQ21H

[Glenda Bixler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of this book will appear at Book Reader's Heaven tomorrow... Thank you for visiting there...

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do you rate a book that made literally no impact on you and had such small pockets of interest that you didn't even know if you'd finish it at times, but wasn't boring enough to NOT finish - just made you lazy instead?

Probably a 2 out of 5, right?

Whenever I see in a book description that a character is diagnosed with a horrible illness, I automatically assume it will be at least mildly interesting. I mean, how can it not? There's this morbid fascination piece that I just can't seem to shake, which is also the reason I love anything war-related. When fictional (or even real) people are living horrors I can't imagine, I want to equip myself with at least SOME idea of what it's like, so I can prepare myself if (and when) I find myself facing them in my own life.

Unfortunately, I didn't really love Specht's writing style and found a lot of disjointedness between the switching or characters' perspectives and POVs. I get what she was trying to do but it just wasn't successful for me. Alyce was the most interesting character, as her depression made her both relatable and terrifying. I can imagine thinking about suicide in such a blunt, run-of-the-mill object in one's life, and her feelings about her kids (aka she doesn't really care) is something I've been scared of since reading We Need to Talk About Kevin in high school. But her drama wasn't enough to keep me engaged. Sure, Flannery wasn't unlikable or anything, but her name was silly and I didn't care at all about her relationship with Kunle and Africa. And the whole snow scientist thing? YAWN, I MEAN PLZ.

If you're going to promise me characters doing a lot of soul-searching in the face of a horrible genetic disease in the future, please deliver. That's all I ask.

[Alexis Leon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary Helen Specht has a clear love for her characters and countries, making the scenes set in Nigeria as real for the reader as those set closer to home (although admittedly, Texas has always been to me more the foreign country). Her dialogue feels so authentic, and a conversation can have alternate meaning depending on which character is narrating at the time. I tended to better appreciate the female narrators, not simply because I found them relatable. I recognized in them friends and family, and they breathed for me on the page.

I enjoyed the novel so much, that I made it a point to read ALL the author interviews in the back, and to cull from Specht's recommended reading for Nigerian authors, as well as who she used for her further research. That's a pretty big tell for me, in terms of my enjoyment.

**Warning: contains plot spoilers**

The changing narration provide lovely insights into the characters and their motivations, for lack of a better word, allowing us to better understand why Flannery might doggedly pursue her research despite her partner's misgivings, or why Molly goes from hiding and planning to terminate her pregnancy to finally revealing to her husband that she is several months along. Alyce was the most interesting to read, her depression providing a fascinating lens into her inner life rather than casting a pall over her narration. Santiago, not so much, but, I am unforgiving when it comes to male Latin characters.