Charlotte, a henna artist who is hiding from something, pitches in and the two of them befriend Mac, a shy and talented chef.

Her neighbor Lizbeth, a hoarder, is killed by a falling bookcase right after she arrives and Frasier, who manages things, hires Zoey to sort through Lizbeth's boxes. Zoey's mom died when she was very young bur now she's 19 and taking her inheritance- a condo on Mallow Island, the place her mom was so happy. This story brought such a smile to my face, and I loved all the birds, including the invisible pigeon named Pigeon.Ī wonderful novel about love, loss and the family we make.

And just because you can't see something doesn't mean it doesn't exist or isn't real. There is so much more to belonging than having the same last name as others. So much more makes a family than just blood ties. This is such a sweet story, as these people come together and learn to give and learn to love. Another resident is Lucy, the dead woman's sister, who is so reclusive that Zoey never sees her because the woman won't leave her apartment during the light of day. And there is the big, redheaded chef, Mac, who has his own problems and secrets. Another neighbor, Charlotte, helps Zoey, and despite Charlotte's fear of befriending and trusting anyone, these women become close. Frasier asks Zoey to go through her apartment to find some missing papers and to clean up the hoarded mess of this woman. One resident, an intrusive, angry, bitter lady, dies as soon as Zoey moves in, and she can't help being interested in this woman. They are lonely and sad and try to hide these feelings, but instead they wear them like a cloak they can't take off. It was as if her dad, stepmother, and her two step-siblings were waiting for her to finally move out of their house so they could really be a family without her intrusion into their lives.Īll the residents and the manager of the property have hurts and longings that keep them from living their lives fully. Her father, who is wealthy, wanted little to do with her even though she lived in his home, and neither did the woman he married after Zoey's mom's death. Her mother died when she was seven, and she's lived a lonely life since that time. Nineteen-year old Zoey has just arrived at the apartment complex so that she can inhabit her late mother's studio apartment.

These little birds seem to have a lot to say, strong opinions about everything, and are every bit as scary, for some folks, as they are tiny. This birds inhabit the courtyard garden of the apartment complex, and they can be found around and on the apartment manager, Frasier, too. The Dellawisps are the tiny turquoise birds that the five unit, well hidden, apartment building in Mallow Island, South Carolina, is named after. I don't always know what to think of stories that deal with magical realism but this one is a winner for me.