June is in transition, reeling from her divorce, trying to stay sober, and faced with a completely stalled career. She returns to the beautiful Oregon coast where she grew up and must decide what to do with her late and much-loved grandparents’ charming cedar-shingled home, a place haunted by memories of her childhood.
Jameson comes highly recommended to renovate the old house to sell, and from their first contact, his curiosity is piqued by June. He too is unmoored as he struggles to redefine his marriage in the aftermath of tragic loss, and over the course of the summer, his conversations with June about the house quickly turn to the personal—of secrets hidden in walls and of stories from the past half-told. Sensing connection, June and Jameson can’t seem to stop circling each other, shying away from hurt. But what can the future hold as long as they are gripped so firmly by the past?
Brimming with empathy, The Days When Birds Come Back, like the house itself, is a graceful testament to endurance, rebuilding, and the possibilities of coming home.
Download and start listening now!
“The Days When Birds Come Back haunted me every day I read it and has continued to ever since. I don’t believe I’ve ever read such an exquisitely painful story that has, on a daily basis, so affected the way I interact with other humans, especially my dearest loved ones. This is a novel that makes me want to pay better attention.”
— Bonnie Nadzam , author of Lamb
“Achingly exquisite…A blindingly beautiful book.”
— Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author“An emotionally satisfying novel about the lingering effects of trauma and how people deal with guilt.”
— Publishers Weekly“Reed shines with a light hand and direct storytelling, but her characters are what make this novel move—their vulnerability, imperfect recovery, and endearing loss for words.”
— Booklist“A gorgeous meditation of the importance of paying attention to one thing in particular: the indelible map our past creates…Dazzling.”
— Laura Pritchett, author of The Blue Hour“Deborah Reed’s story of two people struggling to integrate past pain with a tantalizing future is as misty and heart-stopping as the Oregon coast itself. And in the wonderful, difficult June Byrne, she has created one of the most complex and relatable portraits of a recovering alcoholic in memory.”
— Kristi Coulter, author of Nothing Good Can Come from This“A haunting story of love and loss…The kind of book that you sink into on the first page and don’t want to leave. Deborah Reed’s characters are both flawed and sympathetic, and their struggle to make terms with the past gives this novel a wonderful urgency.”
— Jane Delury, author of The BalconyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Deborah Reed iis the author of four novels: The Days When Birds Come Back, Olivay, Things We Set on Fire, and Carry Yourself Back to Me. She has also written two popular thrillers under the pen name Audrey Braun. Deborah holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and is codirector of the Black Forest Writing Seminars at the University of Freiburg in Germany. She teaches creative writing at workshops around the US and in Europe. She lives on the coast of Oregon.
Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkers series from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including AudioFile Earphones Awards and a coveted Audie Award, and she was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.