Birds of Paradise

Diana Abu-Jaber is the award-winning author of six books of fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"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 "An unusually satisfying read." -- Susanna Sonnenberg "Miami comes alive ... the ambitions and accents of its inhabitants become as impossible to resist as a postprandial siesta in the tropics." -- Cristina Garcia "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." "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." "Abu-Jaber makes us wonder about more that 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." -- Sarah Nelson