{"product_id":"the-birds-of-opulence-paperback","title":"The Birds of Opulence - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eCrystal Wilkinson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eBlackberries, Blackberries\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWater Street\u003c\/i\u003e comes an astonishing new novel. A lyrical exploration of love and loss, \u003ci\u003eThe Birds of Opulence\u003c\/i\u003e centers on several generations of women in a bucolic southern black township as they live with and sometimes surrender to madness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Goode-Brown family, led by matriarch and pillar of the community Minnie Mae, is plagued by old secrets and embarrassment over mental illness and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, single mother Francine Clark is haunted by her dead, lightning-struck husband and forced to fight against both the moral judgment of the community and her own rebellious daughter, Mona. The residents of Opulence struggle with vexing relationships to the land, to one another, and to their own sexuality. As the members of the youngest generation watch their mothers and grandmothers pass away, they live with the fear of going mad themselves and must fight to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCrystal Wilkinson offers up Opulence and its people in lush, poetic detail. It is a world of magic, conjuring, signs, and spells, but also of harsh realities that only love -- and love that's handed down -- can conquer. At once tragic and hopeful, this captivating novel is a story about another time, rendered for our own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCrystal Wilkinson\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eBlackberries, Blackberries\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the Chaffin Award for Appalachian Literature, and \u003ci\u003eWater Street\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for both the UK's Orange Prize for Fiction and the Hurston\/Wright Legacy Award. The winner of the 2008 Denny Plattner Award in Poetry from \u003ci\u003eAppalachian Heritage\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and the Sallie Bingham Award from the Kentucky Foundation for Women, she serves as Appalachian Writer-in-Residence at Berea College and teaches in the Spalding low residency MFA in Creative Writing Program.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 216\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.4 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 23, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51757778501920,"sku":"9780813174990","price":21.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/ee9d4c4289b09866e5f93f58f0218bcc.webp?v=1780111520","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-birds-of-opulence-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}