At 34 years of age, Scarlet has come home for the passing of her famous mother, the bird artist, Addie Kavanaugh. The year is 2002. Though Addie and her husband, the world renowned ornithologist Tom Kavanaugh, have made their life in southeastern Pennsylvania, Addie has chosen to die at the home of her dearest friend, Cora. This is because their ramshackle cottage in Burnham, PA is filled with so much history and because, in the last ten years or so, even bird song has seemed to make Addie angry, or sad, or both. These are the things that Scarlet needs to understand. Cora and Lou (the third woman in Addie's circle) will help Scarlet to see her mother in full. In addition, Scarlet carries her own secret into these foggy daysa secret for Addie, one that involves Cora, too. Joyce Hinnefeld's debut novel is rich in so many ways beyond the taut mother/daughter dynamic and the competition among even the closest of women. The natural world, an artist's vision, the intensity of long-lasti