A remarkable first novel.” - Scientific American Grimsley has created a harrowing southern gothic world, reminiscent of Faulkner or Caldwell. “Like Greek tragedy, Winter Birds moves inexorably from its hypnotic opening to its final, chilling revelation, leaving the reader stunned, exhausted, and wonder-struck.” - Richmond Times-Dispatch “Tell everyone.” -Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction.

Jim Grimsley's brilliant first novel unfolds in a strikingly unconventional way-as the boy tells himself his own story-a shattering story of heartbreak, violence, and the endurance of the spirit. But sooner or later they will all need to face the monstrous man Bobjay has become. Still, Ellen will do just about anything to keep Bobjay home and sober-and keep her family together. Bobjay’s brutal fits of rage and jealousy are beginning to take their toll on his wife and five children, with the two hemophiliac boys, Danny and Grove, especially vulnerable. Doctors, landlords, and farm bosses have certainly added to the trouble. A debilitating farm accident and a steady consumption of alcohol have seen to that. On a snowy Thanksgiving Day in North Carolina, a dreamy eight-year-old Danny Crell is pushed headlong into the adult world by a violent quarrel between his parents, Bobjay and Ellen.īobjay is no longer the man young Ellen married. A man reminisces about growing up with an abusive father in a transient Southern family, in this debut novel by the author of How I Shed My Skin.

Comfort and joy jim grimsley