In Jim Grimsley's remarkable first novel,

Winter Birds, Danny Crell tells himself

his own story, and in doing so illuminates

the heartbreaking story of his father's violent

tyranny over his mother, his sister, and his three

younger brothers.

The novel begins on Thanksgiving in rural

North Carolina in a broken-down cottage the

Crell children have nicknamed "The Circle

House." Ellen Crell's attempts at a family meal

are thwarted and finally disastrously ruined

when Bobjay draws her into a violent quarrel.

It leads to a chase wherein Bobjay is the hunter,

Ellen the prey, and their five children are caught

in between.

Winter Birds is a haunting, unforgettable

portrait of an American family shattered by

violence, and of the lengths a woman will go to

keep her family whole.