Millwater Book of the Month

10 millwaterbook of the month

We Never Asked For Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

This month, author and guest reviewer Karen McMillan introduces another great read

It was with great anticipation that I started We Never Asked For Wings. I loved Vanessa Diffenbaugh’s debut novel The Langauge of Flowers and, although this is an entirely different type of book from her first, it is every bit as good. I loved every page.

Letty is a solo parent of two children; her teenage son Alex and her six-year-old daughter Luna. But being a mother terrifies Letty and for years she has left the raising of her children to her mother while she eeks out a meagre existence working in a bar at the airport. But when her mother decides to leave and go back to Mexico, Letty is forced to step in and mother her two children. Things get complicated when she manages to get her children into a new and better school, a colleague at work looks to be more than just a friend, and the father of Alex becomes part of her life again…

This is a thought-provoking novel about family and love – and how people make mistakes but with help can overcome them. The ‘Wings’ of the title is a beautiful metaphor that works on a number of different levels in the novel. Read this book and let your imagination and joy of life take flight. A fabulous, page-turning, heart-touching read.

Reviewed by Millwater resident Karen McMillan, author of Unbreakable Spirit and The Paris of the East www.karenm.co.nz

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