The Hummingbird: A Novel, by Stephen P. Kiernan
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The Hummingbird: A Novel, by Stephen P. Kiernan
Read and Download The Hummingbird: A Novel, by Stephen P. Kiernan
From the author of the acclaimed The Curiosity comes a compelling and moving story of compassion, courage, and redemption.
Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse whose daily work requires courage and compassion. But her skills and experience are tested in new and dramatic ways when her easygoing husband, Michael, returns from his third deployment to Iraq haunted by nightmares, anxiety, and rage. She is determined to help him heal, and to restore the tender, loving marriage they once had.
At the same time, Deborah’s primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and expert in the Pacific Theater of World War II whose career ended in academic scandal. Alone in the world, the embittered professor is dying. As Barclay begrudgingly comes to trust Deborah, he tells her stories from that long-ago war, which help her find a way to help her husband battle his demons.
Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of loving commitment, service to country, and absolution through wisdom and forgiveness.
The Hummingbird: A Novel, by Stephen P. Kiernan- Amazon Sales Rank: #68479 in Books
- Brand: Kiernan, Stephen P.
- Published on: 2015-09-08
- Released on: 2015-09-08
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.00" h x 1.05" w x 6.00" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Review “This many-faceted, thought-provoking story prompts soul-searching about life, war, and death.” (Booklist)“Remarkably touching, insightful and timely… bridges several powerful stories of life and death that explore the cost of courage and the true meaning of heroism… Illuminating, uplifting and ultimately redemptive.” (RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars)“The Hummingbird is a novel that shares its unexpected gifts and teaches us that surrender is a part of love, and that giving away our weapons is the first step to peace.” (Mary Morris, author of The Jazz Palace)“Stephen Kiernan writes with surefooted mastery and patience. ...What thrilled me about The Hummingbird is that I learned again that sometimes an unbridgeable chasm can be crossed by a leap of the imagination.” (Peter Heller, author of The Painter and The Dog Stars)Praise for The Curiosity:“[THE CURIOSITY] poses provocative questions about life and humanity.” (Entertainment Weekly on THE CURIOSITY)““[A]mbitious . . . an emotionally satisfying and brisk narrative . . . [T]his is a gripping novel with a clever conceit.” (Publishers Weekly on THE CURIOSITY)“I absolutely loved THE CURIOSITY. It’s as thought-provoking and powerful as FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON and the writing is breathtakingly beautiful. And that ending? Poignant, luminescent, and absolutely perfect.” (Chris Bohjalian, bestselling author of The Light in the Ruins and Midwives)“If you want your beach read to deliver some goose bumps, snag Stephen P. Kiernan’s The Curiosity. In this romantic thriller, a man who’s been buried in Arctic ice for over a century is reanimated, with shocking results.” (Good Housekeeping)“One of the year’s great delights. . . . [A] beautifully made first work of fiction.” (Alan Cheuse, NPR)“Stephen P. Kiernan’s novel is a marvelous blend of sci-fi, romance, and the tug-of-war between science and ethics.” (Parade on THE CURIOSITY)“Summer is dominated with thrilling books, but if you prefer yours more measured, more touching and decidedly more thought-provoking, this one may satisfy your curiosity.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune on THE CURIOSITY)“Stephen P. Kiernan’s The Curiosity is a true page-turner, mixing cutting edge science with an all-too-human love story, while simultaneously taking on the Big Questions. It’s one of the most assured debuts in years, a book that will stop your heart and start it again.” (Justin Cronin, bestselling author of The Passage)“[A] smart, heady, and irresistable science thriller....Kiernan gets every element right in teh breakneck, entertaining and thought-provoking taleabout time, mortality, the ethics of science, and the meaning of life.” (Booklist (starred review) on THE CURIOSITY)
From the Back Cover
Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse who never gives up—not with her patients, not in her life. But her skills and experience are fully tested by the condition her husband, Michael, is in when he returns from his third deployment to Iraq. Tormented by nightmares, anxiety, and rage, Michael has become cold and withdrawn. Still grateful that he is home at last, Deborah is determined to heal him and restore their loving, passionate marriage.
But Michael is not her only challenge. Deborah's primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and fierce curmudgeon. An expert on the Pacific Theater of World War II, Barclay is suffering from terminal kidney cancer and haunted by ghosts from his past, including the academic scandal that ended his career.
Barclay's last wish is for Deborah to read to him from his final and unfinished book—a little-known story from World War II that may hold the key to helping Michael conquer his demons. Together, nurse, patient, and soldier embark on an unforgettable emotional journey that transforms them all, offering astonishing insights into life and death, suffering and finding peace.
Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of marital commitment, service to country, the battles we fight for those we love, learning to let go, and finding absolution through wisdom and acceptance.
About the Author
Stephen P. Kiernan is a graduate of Middlebury College, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. During his more than twenty years as a journalist, he has won numerous awards, including the Brechner Center’s Freedom of Information Award, the Scripps Howard Award for Distinguished Service to the First Amendment, and the George Polk Award. He is the author of The Curiosity, his first novel, and two nonfiction books. He lives in Vermont with his two sons.
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Most helpful customer reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Haunting Story of Life & Death By rebelmomof2 I really could not put this book down. The first half of the book is kind of slow in building its momentum but once the story grabbed me, I really had a hard time letting go of the book. It is a beautifully written novel. It is gripping with its three story lines. The first story line is Deborah, who is a hospice nurse trained to make the last days of a person's life bearable. Not only is she a hospice nurse, she is also married to a man who just came home from his third deployment over in Iraq. The second story line is the crotchety old man, Barclay Reed, a professor of history, who is battling kidney cancer. The third story line is the story of Soga, a Japanese warrior and pilot during WWII, who was entrusted with attacking the United States before Pearl Harbor.Deborah and Barclay eventually developed a relationship where she reads his work on the Japanese soldier who survived the war. In the daily day to day living, she would read to him his book about Soga. While reading the book, Deborah would worry about her husband who is battling his own demons left over from the deployment overseas. Once a happier man, he returns home shut within himself, unable to talk to Deborah or to resume any of his activities. Even scarier for Deborah, he was in a road rage accident, so he was unable to drive anywhere. No matter what she tried to do, she was unable to reach him.This book is a beautiful testament to the last days of a dying person, and what it is like to be a hospice nurse. I thoroughly enjoyed the WWII story of the Japanese pilot. I didn't find that part boring at all. I think it was relevant to the story line as Deborah took lessons from the story of Soga's changing mindset and applied it to her marriage with Michael, who was so troubled from his experiences in the war. No matter what the war is, no soldier walks away from his experiences unscathed. That is the parallel I derived from reading about Soga's experiences as a warrior in WWII and Michael's state of mind in present day. It was a very interesting read and actually quite moving.This book is haunting. I cannot pick up another book just yet as the stories of Deborah and Barclay are still fresh in my mind. It is beautifully written with a deep appreciation for life and for the history of this world, no matter how distant it was in the past. It is a daily reminder that life and death are entwined no matter your status in life. This book provides the stories that will surely be remembered for a long time after the last page has been turned.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful. The Hummingbird: where every cloud has a multitude of silver linings By Laurence R. Bachmann In fairness to the author of The Hummingbird, I have just been reading two brilliant writers--Owen Sheers and Edward St. Aubyn. Both are very tough acts to follow, and Stephen Kiernan doesn't impress as being in the first rank of writers. His novel, the story of hospice caregiver Deborah Birch is riddled with cliches and cornball characterization. Nurse Deb Birch is the Full Mary Sue: sensitive, wise, and intuitive. Where others might think patient distress is related to pain, Deb has a "hunch" a former patient Neil just needed his morphine lowered enough to express the dying wish to mow a neglected field. Upon completion, he can hop back in bed and die in peace. You go girl! A colleague even more saccharine than Deb (she must be toxic) encourages a dying patient's family to circle the bed, hold hands and sing "you are my sunshine." Now in my 7th decade, I probably should look into alternatives to hospice care.Apparently she is (if she does say so herself) the benchmark of hospice providers, held in reserve for the toughest of cases. In this instance it's a retired history professor named Reed serving the roll of misanthrope, who deep down isn't so bad after all. If only we all had the patience to have dishes of applesauce thrown at us and then comment: "he'd won my heart already. The crusty old coot." As Deb and the old crusty coot get on, the cliches become a downpour: When she discovered she couldn't have kids she "wept as though I were teaching the sky to rain." Fortunately hubby Michael assures her they can make enough joy together for a whole family. The flickers of a smile and the twinkle of eye start to pile up. Once happily married to "a powerful, generous, patient, breathtaking lover," he is now unhappily, retuned from war and--irony of ironies--Oregon's best caregiver can't seem to help the person she cares for most. A third into the book I wouldn't have minded a little morphine myself. Nor would I have wanted Deb to have a hunch that lowered my dose.With writing this hackneyed one anticipates a predictable plot, and the book mostly delivers upon reader expectations. The story of Deborah and Michael, caregiver and PTSD sufferer is unimaginative and develops ponderously with, of course, time spent with "the old coot" shedding invaluable light upon her own problems. What keeps the book from being a real stinker is a subplot of a book written by her patient about an actual Japanese pilot, Ichiro Soga, and his activity during and after WWII in the Pacific Northwest. It is by far the most interesting part of the novel. The numerous insights into Japanese culture are engaging and there is a theme of reconciliation and acceptance that is rather well done. At the end, I learned the author is a former journalist. Those skills are on full display in the historical chapters, and frankly I wish they had been expanded upon. Without them The Hummingbird is a bit of a dud.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. “I gain much more than I give.” By E. Bukowsky “The Hummingbird,” by Stephen Kiernan, is the moving story of Deborah Birch, a hospice nurse and social worker who faces daunting personal and professional challenges. She lives in Oregon and has been assigned to care for a retired history professor, seventy-eight year old Barclay Reed. The solitary and acerbic Professor Reed was forced out of academia in disgrace. He is now terminally ill after having been diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer.This work of fiction has three interconnected story lines. Besides having to cope with the cantankerous professor, Deborah longs to recapture the affection of her husband, Michael, a National Guardsman whose deployments in Iraq left him severely traumatized. The third element has Deborah reading aloud to the professor from his unpublished manuscript, “The Sword.” In it, Reed recounts events that he claims occurred during and after World War II.In this evocative and insightful book, Kiernan explores how people react to adversity and, in addition, poses a challenging question: Does it require more strength and courage to control oneself or to exert power over others? Moreover, the author provides details about the ways in which skilled hospice nurses help patients and their families take care of unfinished business while there is still time. Of course, it is heartbreaking to watch someone suffer. Deborah, who narrates, describes her efforts to remain receptive and understanding even when she is frustrated, irritated, and exhausted. Fortunately, she is mature enough to admit her mistakes; pays careful attention to verbal and non-verbal cues; and never stops looking for a way into a grieving person’s heart. In lesser hands, “The Hummingbird” might have been heavy-handed and cloyingly sentimental. Instead, it is a wise and transformative novel that is psychologically astute and written in beautifully paced, expressive, and understated prose that is all the more poignant for its simplicity.
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