This is another read from my roadtrip last month, and wow, this was a haunting one. I wasn't expecting this - I had no idea what I was in for. I felt haunted as I read, haunted when I reluctantly had to put it down in the middle (like when it was my turn to drive), and haunted when I finished. It is a stunning read that I really, really loved. 
 It does take a stretch of the imagination and an acceptance of the unrealistic, though, to really get into and enjoy and immerse yourself into. But I felt it wasn't too much of a stretch for me. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender recounts the history of the Roux/Lavender family, their sad and tragic accounts of how love goes wrong but life goes on. The storytelling spans from title character Ava's grandmother and her family's migration to the US, and it all comes down to Ava Lavender and her twin, Henry, both a little different from the expected norm in their little Seattle town of the 50s - Henry with what I suspect is a form of autism, and Ava with her wings. That's right, a child born with wings which should grant her freedom but in her mother's fear only constrains her. 
 I find that generational stories can go either way - and this one definitely went the right way. The story moved slowly and at times you might wonder to what purpose, but it does have a purpose. I was so caught up in the lyrical writing the time passed quickly and I found the story was over long before I was ready to leave it behind. It follows particularly the love stories through the generations, those who they loved and lost and how it shaped the rest of their lives, and the lives of their children that follow. Love for the Roux and Lavender families has been cruel and tragic and has made them all 'such fools' and in this book they long for it, hold on to it and leave it. I loved the observations of the illogical nature of love and they also broke my heart. I was smiling one second, crying the next and I always wanted to read more.