Birds of Paradise: A Novel (41 page)

I decided to return to flour by starting with chocolate gingered cookies. A friend in my writing group had introduced these to me—decorative little disks—pretty, laborious, gingery-hot and wickedly seductive: just the right balance, I thought, of light and dark. As I whipped the butter and egg, I thought about how writing is a bit like baking: assembling the ingredients, mixing them, hoping it will all turn out. With each step of the recipe, a bit more of the main character revealed herself to me: when I grated the hot ginger I sensed her anger, scraping out the vanilla bean I felt her compulsiveness and perfectionism. Once the pan was in the oven I felt her anguish, the loss of something dear, the faithless wait for the impossible. She would be, I knew, the darkest character I’d ever written. I hadn’t known this before I’d turned the oven on.

But even as I write this I feel the ancient fear return, sense the danger in linking writing too closely with anything like “women’s work”—the fear that baking is too sensual and sentimental. Verging, in a literary sense, on the immoral—rather than the immortal. Baking especially can seem reductive, relying on precise formulas and measurements, unlike the artistic flourishes and spontaneity of cooking: baking seems premeditated, calculating. But every character has their own sort of scent and flavor—unless, of course, they taste only of the ink and the paper where they’re written. In which case, I think, there’s a kind of absence or loss—of imagination or courage, perhaps.

What to do? Characters, like living people, also have bodies and appetites. Does it have to matter so much who does the baking? Characters must also want to lift the cookie from its plate, to bite and feel the sweep of mind carrying them far out, beyond the page, into the widening sky, into the broad fields of time and imagination. Let them eat, I think. Let them live. Let them bake.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.   Avis and Brian show us how the responsibility of children—and in this case, of a runaway child—can transform a marriage. How does the entrance of children change the relationship between parents? How does it change the parents or parent individually?

2.   What kind of a mother is Avis? Is it possible to trace her mothering style to the way she herself was mothered? Could she have been a better mother to each of her kids? Is it fair for anyone to judge?

3.   What did you think of Brian’s comment about not bargaining “with terrorists” in regards to Felice? Are Felice’s parents too strict or too permissive? Did they let her go too easily?

4.   Have you ever witnessed or been in a situation where the behavior of a “problem child” overshadowed the needs of his or her siblings? How might have Avis and Brian better handled their treatment of Stanley in the wake of Felice’s disappearance?

5.   Why do you think Stanley grew up to become so principled? What kind of a father do you think he’ll be?

6.   Did you feel sorry for Felice once you learned why she ran away? How about before? Do you believe that it was entirely out of self-punishment that she left the comforts of her home and family, or was she being selfish?

7.   How does a child’s growing up and leaving home affect his or her parents? And what if they face an extreme case of this departure, as with a runaway or a child who chooses to leave home too soon?

8.   What do you think is the significance of the novel’s focus on food, in terms of both Felice’s baking and Stanley’s organic market? Is it just representative of today’s foodie obsessions, or is there a deeper meaning?

9.   How do you feel about the fact that at least one other street kid in Felice’s crowd comes from a wealthy background? Are these kids just misguided rebels, or did you feel they must have had real reasons for choosing to live on the streets?

10.  How does the author’s fascination with Miami come through in the novel? How might the novel have been different if it took place somewhere else?

11.  How did you feel about the fact that the real-estate scam was revealed right before Brian invested his money? Why do you think the author gave him a second chance? What does his particular situation say about the real-estate landscape in general?

12.  Is there a dark side to America’s reputation as paradise?

13.  What do you make of Avis’s friendship with her Haitian neighbor? Are their situations similar or impossible to compare?

14.  In what ways does the novel show us how we might be creative? Think of how characters like Avis, Emerson, and Stanley demonstrate creativity in their own ways.

15.  Does Felice “grow up” by the end of the novel? What does it mean to grow up, and is one ever finished doing so?

16.  Does Felice’s family really come together at the end? Or does it seem as though Felice is just continuing to run away from her problems?

More praise for

Birds of Paradise

“This Jordanian-American author writes about food so enticingly that her books should be published on sheets of phyllo dough.
Birds of Paradise
contains her most mouthwatering writing ever, but it’s no light after-dinner treat. This is a full-course meal, a rich, complex and memorable story that will leave you lingering gratefully at her table.”

—Ron Charles,
Washington Post

“Brilliant. . . .
Birds of Paradise
is likely to add further luster to [Abu-Jaber’s] literary reputation. . . . With her evocative prose and accomplished style, Diana Abu-Jaber’s
Birds of Paradise
explores with wisdom and insight the emotional fallout of a shattering family crisis. Yet in this profoundly moving novel, she also manages to unearth the inherent, cathartic beauty of family and individual survival in this complex and perilous new century.”

—Cecie O’Bryon England,
Washington Times

“Abu-Jaber makes us wonder about more than what will happen to one girl with a guilty secret. What, after all, does it mean to be a family? Is love really ‘exchangeable, malleable’? We can’t help turning pages full of stunning prose to find out.”

—Sara Nelson,
O, The Oprah Magazine

“A beautiful and complex examination of a mother-daughter relationship.”

—Jennifer Haupt,
Psychology Today

“Miami comes alive in
Birds of Paradise
, a lush new novel. . . . From the verdant streets of Coral Gables to the back lots of Little Haiti and the seedy underbelly of Miami Beach, the metropolis is floridly, meticulously detailed.”

—Cristina García
New York Times Book Review

“Abu-Jaber . . . employs her descriptive talents in bringing Miami to steamy, pulsing life, but it is
Birds of Paradise
’s neither predictable nor merely haphazard momentum and its rich cast of characters that make us feel we’re in deliciously capable hands.”

—Bliss Broyard,
Elle

“Few writers entwine food and memory as well as Diana Abu-Jaber.”

—Emily Witt,
Marie Claire

“Gorgeous. . . . [Abu-Jaber] writes with a precise, almost poetic distillation of feeling, heightened in contrast to the ripe, exuberant landscape and the unsettled feelings of a family in limbo. . . . To put it in Abu-Jaber’s terms: If the book were a pastry, it would be savory and complex, layered with richness, with a flicker of sweetness that lingers on the tongue.”

—Amy Driscoll,
Miami Herald

“A meticulous, deeply moving portrayal of imperfect human beings struggling to do right. . . . Glorious descriptions, both of nature and Avis’s mouthwatering pastry, offset yet intensify the jagged emotions of the Muirs.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“The Muirs’ absorbing story builds to a thoroughly satisfying climax.”

—Sue Corbett,
People
magazine (four stars)

“With
Birds of Paradise
, Abu-Jaber has made an amazing, gigantic leap into rare air, that hazy stratosphere we jokingly call The Big Time. Her novel is that worthy, and that beautiful.”

—Christine Selk,
Oregonian

“If such a thing were possible with books, I would have licked the plate.”

—Sarah Norris,
Chapter 16

“Abu-Jaber is a brilliant storyteller and this is the kind of novel that appeals on many levels: plot-oriented, well-written, moving, and dealing with a family breakdown that transcends class.”

—
Frisbee: A Book Journal

“It’s impossible to read the work of Diana Abu-Jaber without at least an occasional lump in the throat. . . . Abu-Jaber is able to achingly express each family member’s regrets, hopes, and fears.”

—Agnes Torres Al-Shibibi,
Seattle Times

“Whether it’s the creation of evanescent confections or the drug-ridden life of the streets, award-winning writer Abu-Jaber (
Origin
) impressively describes vastly different worlds with equal expertise. . . . A literary family drama with extra appeal to foodies.”

—Joy Humphrey,
Library Journal

“
Birds of Paradise
is that best kind of novel, one that finds a serious writer honing and developing her gift with each new work. It offers new readers an opportunity to catch up with this important American novelist just as she comes into the fullness of her powers.”

—Chauncey Mabe,
Open Page

“Abu-Jaber’s effortless prose, fully fleshed characters, and a setting that reflects the adversity in her protagonists’ lives come together in a satisfying and timely story.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Abu-Jaber’s appeal is universal, multi-cultural and joyful, a tangled world experienced through the prism of family, a microcosm of humanity’s most damning flaws and finest moments. Diana Abu-Jaber’s language of the heart transcends borders, a refreshing wash of hope in a time of need.”

—
Curled Up with a Good Book

“[Abu-Jaber’s] prose is often lyrical. . . . But
Birds of Paradise
has satisfying substance, too, for anyone hungry to read about the many ways that modern families lose and love.”

—Colette Bancroft,
St. Petersburg Times

“Carefully concocted, Diana Abu-Jaber’s
Birds of Paradise
is a feast that is easily one of the year’s best novels—food or no.”

—David Chambers,
Super Chef

“Diana Abu-Jaber’s fourth novel charms with delectable prose, vividly unique characterizations, and an exquisitely-rendered Miami setting. . . . Our hearts and our appetites are stimulated by this extraordinary quest to the heart of family connections.”

—Glenda Bailey-Mershon,
Women and Books

“The counterpoint of protagonist Avis Muir’s finicky pastries and her Haitian neighbor’s mysterious home remedies bracket the heart of Diana Abu-Jaber’s novel the way outer petals frame its titular blooms.”

—Bethanne Patrick,
Star Tribune

“Intimate and evocative. . . . Hungry yet? Read the novel and you will be. Not just for the many fragrant and fragile pastries that float through its pages, but for the landscape of the story as well. . . . What really sets
Birds of Paradise
apart is Abu-Jaber’s genius for immersing the reader in a sense of place. From the manicured Eden of Coral Gables, to the amped-up narcissism of South Beach, to the rough, hot streets of Little Havana, you feel and smell and taste Miami. . . . It’s in Felice’s chapters that
Birds of Paradise
comes to full and sizzling life.”

—Veronique de Turenne,
Chicago Tribune

Copyright © 2011 by Diana Abu-Jaber

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

First published as a Norton paperback 2012

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library of congress
cataloging-in-publication data

Abu-Jaber, Diana.

Birds of paradise : a novel / Diana Abu-Jaber. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-393-06461-2 (hardcover)

1. Runaway teenagers—Fiction. 2. Teenage girls—Fiction.
3. Families—Fiction. 4. Parent and teenager—Fiction.
5. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 6. Miami (Fla.)—Fiction.
7. Domestic fiction. 8. Psychological fiction. I. Title.

PS3551.B895B57 2011

813
’
.54—dc22

2011014575

ISBN 978-0-393-34259-8 pbk.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.
Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

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