The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender

 

Synopsis:

Love makes us such fools.

 

 

It is hard to sum up my feelings about The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender in short.

It is hands down the most beautifully written novel I have read this year. The language and atmosphere that the book encompasses so effortless is both dream-like and exceptionally strange.

Most of the book lives in a world unhindered by logic and focuses solely on the aspect of love and how it has affected several generations of the same family to, by some means, explain Ava, the girl born with bird wings. 

In many ways Ava Lavender makes absolutely no sense.

But.

When has love ever made sense?

 

Within the first few pages we safely assume that Ava and the generations before her are magical.

We follow their lives wistfully, drifting from past to present, witnessing love and loss, reminiscing kisses stolen in distant memories and grieving past regrets.

Strangely, for a novel revolving around the concept of love, love is found hiding in the corner of the room, under freshly baked patisseries and in the cherry stains smudged on white dresses.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender very cleverly finds love, in its purest form, without looking for it.

 

Ava narrates with whimsical conversation, stating the nonsensical as mere fact, and sprinkling sorrow along the way.

The story is unpredictable, much like love. The optimism and hope of the family can quickly take a turn for the worst, perfectly exhibiting how love can hurt us and make us such us fools.

 

Overall, the title is the perfect reflection of how I feel about the book.

It's strange and wacky, surprising you when someone suddenly turns into a bird but never too crazy as to throw you from the story. The prose itself is beautiful, focusing on the tiniest of details, giving objects often overlooked, a life and character of their own.

 

However, I find the story reads off as a historical portrayal. The summary of the book is misleading. We don't meet Ava in the timeline until over half way into the book as the book follows Ava's family history, or that which she has managed to uncover thus far.

The beginning focuses mainly on the Roux family and their movements until we reach the house at the end of Pinnacle Lane and finally Ava.

 

The book focuses on three particulars of the Roux/Lavender family.

Emilienne. Viviane. Ava.

Three women who each have their own turmoil with love and cope with the repercussions very differently. Each individual's experiences are a perfect depiction of how unpredictable love is and how hopeless we are to control it, if not oblivious to it entirely.

If this story has shown me one thing, it is that love cannot be tamed or pinned down, much like Ava and her wings.

 

Until we reach Ava's lifetime, dialogue is rare, passages are heavy with description, albeit beautiful description, and the more curious events of the past are acknowledged but never explained, leaving us with the swirling philosophical thoughts of Ava's ancestors.

 

I deeply appreciate the unique style of writing and the dreamy voice of Ava herself as she narrates her past and present but one page shocked me to the very core.

After the fantastical atmosphere you grow accustomed to throughout the book, this page singlehandedly strips it down to reality, revealing the confusion between true love, mere infatuation and outright obsession.

 

There isn't any suspense of thrill to be had with this book, so don't swoop in expecting to find a cliché love triangle and a fantastical tale about a girl who can soar the skies.

 

It is, in it's own way, a modern fairy tale, with each character symbolising many aspects of life, our hopes, sorrows, choices, right and wrong and of course love.

 

I guarantee that every reader will take away something different from this story, which is what I love about it, as not many modern YA books are left open to interpretation.

 

Overall, I do think it is a somewhat eloquent addition to the world of literature, however I'm not sure I would class it as a YA book due to its poetic language and sometimes dark themes, which could limit its accessibility to younger readers.