Crow Talk

A Novel

By: Eileen Garvin

Narrated by: Helen Laser

Nationally bestselling author of The Music of Bees Eileen Garvin returns with a moving story of hope, healing, and unexpected friendship set amidst the wild natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Frankie O’Neill and Anne Ryan would seem to have nothing in common. Frankie is a lonely ornithologist struggling to salvage her dissertation on the spotted owl following a rift with her advisor. Anne is an Irish musician far from home and family, raising her five-year-old son, Aiden, who refuses to speak.

At Beauty Bay, a community of summer homes nestled on the shores of June Lake, in the remote foothills of Mount Adams, it’s off-season with most houses shuttered for the fall. But Frankie, adrift, returns to the rundown caretaker’s cottage that has been in the hardworking O'Neill family for generations—a beloved place and a constant reminder of the family she has lost. And Anne, in the wake of a tragedy that has disrupted her career and silenced her music, has fled to the neighboring house, a showy summer home owned by her husband's wealthy family.

When Frankie finds an injured baby crow in the forest, little does she realize that the charming bird will bring all three lost souls—Frankie, Anne, and Aiden—together on a journey toward hope, healing, and rediscovering joy. Crow Talk is an achingly beautiful story of love, grief, friendship, and the healing power of nature in the darkest of times.

I love the depth and compassion concerning the crow and all spec

I love that this book continued forward with its ups and downs. True to life in sorrow and love. Although the story returns to the life of the crow, it parallels the lives of all of us.

Exceptionally well thought out and written story

I especially appreciated how the story flowed and tied together without being too perfect. The author accurately captured complex feelings realistically, and challenges of relationships various relationships, particularly the relationship that the main characters have with themselves. I also enjoyed the tidbits about various birds sprinkled in throughout the story. I’m now excited to read (or listen to) the authors earlier books.

Lovely characters and beautiful use of language

I was not expecting this to be a novel of grief and I almost stopped listening (I lost my father and things are still raw). But I had already fallen in love with the characters and the writing, so I persevered. A beautiful novel that gives all the feelings.

Relaxing and interesting

I liked all of it. It’s had to find a book with a good flow. Especially when the audible app doesn’t support readers anymore with previews and reviews

Good Story Almost Ruined by Terrible Pronunciation

There were so many mispronunciations of local place names, I can’t even name them all, but how about “bow line.” Rhymes with cow, not low. I almost quit the audiobook and went to print because the mispronunciations were so distracting.