Customer Reviews

Skyward

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My very favorite city is Charleston, South Carolina, and it's hard to find a bad book written about the Low Country. Skyward by Mary Alice Monroe is no exception.

Skyward takes place at the Coastal Carolina Center for Birds of Prey, owned and operated by Harris Henderson. Monroe provides us with much interesting information about the many birds treated at the center including eagles, hawks, ospreys, vultures, falcons and owls. But birds aren't the only injured creatures that inhabit the center. Harris suffers from an unhappy childhood, a failed marriage and the recently diagnosed disease of his five year old daughter. Daughter Marion has been wounded by her diabetes and her runaway mom. Nurse Ella Majors flees her native Vermont after seeing one too many children die at the hands of neglectful parents. She takes a job as Marion's fulltime nanny. Brady Simmons is a 16 year old with an abusive father. He's doing community service at the center because he shot an eagle. And Lijah, and elderly Gullah gentleman, has lost his wife and two young sons. He serves as the wise sage who mentors this odd bunch. Somehow, in learning to treat and heal the birds, these wounded souls also learn how to heal themselves and each other. They also discover that the techniques that lead to success in working with the raptors can also help in their interpersonal relationships.

Although I liked the storyline and what happened with the characters, I think that the birds made the book. They each had their own personality and although wild, each staff member had their favorite. Even though Harris doesn't believe in naming wild creatures, the staff was pretty clever at finding the proper name for the right bird. So Santee, Tweedledee, Tweedledum, Buh Rooster, Cinnamon, etc. were just as much a part of the story as the human characters.

Monroe also provides an interesting look at the birds including their personalities, their histories, what brings them to the center, how they're treated, and efforts to release them back into the wild. Not all efforts are successful, and the Tweedles (two vultures) never did want to leave the nest. One story I had never heard involved the battlefield of Gettysburg. One day after the battle, vultures started arriving to pick apart the remains of the many dead horses. More arrived every day, and they never migrated for the winter, having enough food to see them through. Even today, over 900 black and turkey vultures return each year to the battlefield.

Finding Mary Alice Monroe has been like finding treasure, and I can't wait to read more of her Low Country tales.

As neither an outdoorswoman nor a lover of animals, particularly birds of prey, it's a testament to the remarkable talent of Mary Alice Monroe that this book fascinated me as profoundly as it did. Their struggle to be rehabilitated and their flight of freedom is such a powerfully beautiful metaphor, however the birds were not the only beings that found healing in this remarkable story. As a health professional, I was immediately drawn to Ella's character and the loving way she interacted with Marion, providing so much more than mere medical care. Harris was a bit more difficult to warm up to because he was so focused on his work that he seemed to neglect his daughter's emotional needs. Yet, he was a man of such great integrity that it wasn't long before he won me over. The secondary characters gave additional depth to the story - Lijah's Gullah folklore was a wonderful cultural immersion. The inspired way he interacted with Brady, the wayward teen who so desperately needed the guidance of a strong male role model to change the course of his life, was very admirable. And the low country of coastal South Carolina was a brilliantly described setting, making the story literally soar off the pages!

I genuinely appreciated this story and highly recommend it to all who wish to be enlightened.

I recommend this book to everyone and anyone. After reading her last book The Beach House, I beacame much more aware with the status of our beloved sea turtles. Now after reading Skyward, I have a new appreciation for the birds of prey. Monroe skillfully intertwines the power and beauty of natural elements into her stories. Her novel was so captivating that I didn't even realize how I had come to better understand the low-country area that I'm from. Reading this novel will make you feel like a better person just for reading it. No matter where you are from, this novel will leave you speaking with a Southern drawl. I absolutely loved it.

After reading Mary Alice Monroe's "Beach House" I was taken by her writing style and followed with Skyward. I was thrilled to find that this book was every bit as enjoyable as Beach House, and had many of the same strengths-- beautifully written characters and a story that seamlessly weaved the history and beauty of the place where the story takes place--you truly feel part of the story.

In SKYWARD, Monroe weaves a beautiful tale about love, loss and the strength of the human spirit. I found this book to be a quick and enjoyable read-- the characters were well written and so believable that I felt I knew them. This is the kind of story that you are sad to see come to an end. Wonderful!

One more time Mary Alice Monroe has come through for her readers! Skyward was such a delightful book to read. I couldn't put it down...loved the characters, the setting and all the "real" information of the Carolinas that was hidden in the story. I'm looking forward to another of her books and have recently started enjoying Girl in the Mirror. Skyward has been passed on to others waiting in line to enjoy it!
Thanks, Mary Alice, for sharing your talents!
Minnie Bourque

Monroe's captivating book takes you to a sanctuary for birds of prey along the coast of South Carolina. Her passion and knowledge of the landscape and wildlife is clear in her vivid descriptions. The characters are carefully drawn, and in the case of the Gullah wise man, Lijah, powerfully compelling. The birds were like characters, too, so vivid were they! I feel I've been taken to a special world in her book and was captivated by her parallels between our human relationships and nature. Inspirational. Highly recommended for readers of all ages.

Harris Henderson is in shock from the medical report that informs him that his beloved five-year-old daughter Marion suffers from the worst type of juvenile diabetes. Desperate he advertises for a caregiver, hoping to have someone apply to live in his isolated bird sanctuary and rehabilitation center in the wilderness in the South Carolina Low Country. However, he feels lucky when a registered pediatric nurse answers his ad. Weary Ella Majors feels burned out helplessly watching children die after a decade in the ER; she feels the change from Vermont to Carolina will rejuvenate her. The two agree on a one-year contract after a one-month trial period.

Harris soon finds himself surrounded by two-legged prey. Besides his new employee, a teen is sentenced to giving community time at the center for shooting a bird. Marian's druggie mother arrives causing havoc for one all. However, amidst these intruders, Harris and Ella fall in love even while the nurse also loves her patient.

This strong contemporary romance stays above the soap opera level that the plot could have become because the big three members of the cast seems very real as they reach out to one another. The birds and their home provide an atypical background so that the audience will appreciate the way Mary Alice Monroe spins it into the tale. The teen enables the reader to see how much the adults care, but the mother is too pathetic too matter except in adding unnecessary tension to a powerful human drama.

Harriet Klausner

When I discovered the writings of Ms. Monroe I knew I had come home. She builds her novels with characters full of life and its lessons. I was enthralled with "The Beach House" and have given it away several times while keeping a copy for my own bookshelf. Now I have done the same thing with "Skyward". With each novel we learn about the thread that Mary Alice creates, "Beach House" was about loggerhead turtles and this time with "Skyward" we learn about the birds of prey. I was so moved by this novel that I immediately sent a donation to The Center for Birds of Prey in SC where Ms. Monroe volunteers. Keep the wonderful novels coming, Mary Alice!! BRAVO!!

First, let me start by saying: I have type 1 diabetes, I am an avid animal-lover, and I lived in the South for 10 years (and I miss it very much). For these reasons, Skyward sounded like the perfect book for me ...and indeed, it was a fun and engaging read for me. At it's heart, Skyward is a story about healing emotional wounds and learning how to trust and love. Both the hero and heroine of the story are dealing with lost love. Harris was abandoned by his father and then took on the role of caretaker for his alcoholic mother, and later for his drug-addicted wife. Ella experienced the loss of her parents when she was young, and experiences many heart-breaking losses as a pediatric nurse. Both characters must face their difficult pasts before they can make the major life changes necessary to allow them to move on. In addition, the sub-plots that are woven into the story make it all the more interesting.

Although I truly enjoyed the story, I thought the characters should have more fully been developed. Monroe provides clear and colorful descriptions of the southern landscape, and yet she fails to do the same for her characters. They lack traits from any type of local/regional culture (with the exception of Lijah) --they could live virtually anywhere. Each character has a generic type of personality, but there is no depth to their being. In contrast, Monroe describes the landscape beautifully and she presents information about birds of prey in an engaging manner that broadened my understanding and interest them. The author also provides a nice introduction to the Gullah culture through the enchanting tales and words of wisdom from one of the secondary characters. Monroe appears to have done thorough research about both birds of prey and the Gullah culture. However, she has limited knowledge about type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. The majority of the information about diabetes in this book is incorrect. If the author had done even a cursory investigation of type 1 diabetes, she could have corrected most/all of the inaccuracies about this disease. Despite the misinformation about diabetes, Monroe blends this disease into the story smoothly without overdoing it. The necessary tasks involved in caring for a diabetic child are seamlessly woven into the story.

Skyward appealed strongly to the animal-lover in me. My most vivid and enjoyable recollections of this story are of the various birds ...Santee (a Bald eagle), Cinnamon (a Harris hawk), Buh Rooster, and my favorites, the Tweedles (two vultures). In addition, the tale of self-discovery and healing hearts appealed to the romantic in me. If you are an animal-lover (or at the very least, you like animals) and are looking for a light romance novel, I highly recommend this book. If you have no interest in animals and are primarily looking for a romance novel, this is not the book for you.

I found SKYWARD to be a wonderful book... I usually don't pick up less-known titles, but a friend recommended this book to me, and I loved it... I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for a beautiful summer read, who enjoys a well-crafted story and believable characters.