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All the Little Bird-Hearts

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All the Little Bird-Hearts

By: Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow
Narrated by: Rose Akroyd
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About this listen

An unforgettable literary debut exploring motherhood, vulnerability, and the way the world closes ranks against those it considers to be different.

I lived for and loved a bird-heart that summer; I only knew it afterwards.

Sunday Forrester lives with her sixteen-year-old daughter, Dolly, in the house she grew up in. She does things more carefully than most people. On quiet days, she must eat only white foods. Her etiquette handbook guides her through confusing social situations, and to escape, she turns to her treasury of Sicilian folklore. The one thing very much out of her control is Dolly - her clever, headstrong daughter, now on the cusp of leaving home.

Into this carefully ordered world step Vita and Rollo, a couple who move in next door, disarm Sunday with their charm, and proceed to deliciously break just about every rule in Sunday's book. Soon they are in and out of each others' homes, and Sunday feels loved and accepted like never before. But beneath Vita and Rollo's polish lies something else, something darker. For Sunday has precisely what Vita has always wanted for herself: a daughter of her own.

©2023 Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow (P)2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"What a glorious, unforgettable character Vita is. And I loved Sunday's voice too, so unique, right from the off. It showed me things about autism that will stay with me. A genuinely valuable book, but more importantly I enjoyed being inside its world." (Melissa Harrison, author of All Among the Barley)

"Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow's is a distinct and poetic new voice. This novel about the complex desires behind our closest relationships is undercut with the darkness of Sicilian folklore: the fisherman who promises away his child; the lover who is a wolf; a caged magpie; burning fields." (Clare Pollard, poet and author of Delphi)

"Funny, lyrical, deft and devastating. Full of longing and love." (Amy Sackville, author of Painter to the King)
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, The characters are so well written, the story kept me guessing to the end. Also beautifully performed. Loved it.

gripping to the very end

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This book is mean and a most cruel. To take a mother’s love for granted for the enchantment of strangers, it’s actually quite upsetting and unsettling that a daughter would treat her mother in such an insensitive manner. I felt for her mother’s vulnerability and how she was really taken advantage of. The ending is a saving grace.

Unsettling

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Beautifully written exposing the vulnerability of the main character and enabling us to understand the world through her eyes.

Written from the perspective of someone with a neurodiverse personality

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The narrator is excellent and switches convincingly between Sunday and Vita. The setting could be anywhere, apart from references to the lake, the novel does not give a feeling of ‘place’. It ultimately left me feeling deflated and unsatisfied mainly because I was trying to find some redeeming qualities in the characters and although they were recognisable, every one slipped over into caricature. Each one was so unlike able and I could not even feel any sympathy for Sunday, who I felt dismissed Phyllis, the one person that had seen and accepted her.

A bit deflating

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I loved this story and I found it hard to stop listening to it. It's beautifully written and beautifully read. Thank you

pure gold

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I think I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It's not at all a bad book though. It was well written and it got the mother's emotions across pretty well I thought.

I think I might need more time to figure out exactly why I wasn't as captivated as I thought I'd be. However I think at least part of it is that I didn't really see much of me in it, which is obviously not remotely a fault of the book! Just in regards to my own personal enjoyment. I'm sure plenty do see themselves reflected though.

Something I did find fault with though is that it didn't really show the difficulties and traumas faced, only discussed generally or retrospectively at times. Sensory issues for eg - Lights and noises were mentioned as things she struggles with yet I don't remember actually seeing much evidence of that. Also executive functioning (planning, organising, working memory etc) I think were referenced in a short explanation of why she cooks only one thing at a time, but we don't actually see her struggling with these things.

It was also just kind of a strange story tbh. Mostly in relation to the neighbours. The same story could have been told using the dad and the in-laws. The daughter becoming closer to the step mom for eg. It just seemed a little far fetched imo.

All The Little Bird Hearts

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It was a very, very similar story to Mildred Pierce, which is a story I like. I have to say the first half was rather slow, and it was unclear what the story wad and in which direction it was heading, but by the time I realised that this was about the difficulties with what a mother can provide for their child, I began to prefer it more.

Mildred Pierce revisited

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Loved the story and the storytelling. So insightful without labelling the main character. Sad and uplifting.

Beautiful story, beautifully told

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A lovely treatise about the way autistic people show so little, but know so much.

Quietly addictive, a real page-turner

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I did enjoy this book, however somewhere in middle I began to feel very annoyed at the treatment of Sunday by just about everyone. I had such compassion for her and desperately wanted her to have an ally, a friend, someone who gave a shit about her. The book ended with my gaining an understanding of what it is to be ‘neurodiverse’ and how horribly cruel those who identify as ‘ normal’ can be.

Very easy enjoyable listen

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