Above Us Only Sky by Michele Young-Stone
Prudence Vilkas was
born with wings. But at birth a surgeon
cut them off, leaving a scar and small stubs.
Prudence feels the connection to her wings her whole life, their loss
leaves her with a feeling of disconnect
she doesn’t understand. There is only one
other person who can see and acknowledges her wings, her best friend Wheaton. Her parents were young and are separated and
Prudence lives with her mother, the one who demanded the wings be cut off.
Prudence has an anchor in her life in Wheaton but she struggles with what the
wings mean/meant.
When she is fifteen her grandparents on her absent father’s
side demand to meet her and Prudence discovers she is not alone in her family’s
history. Other women have had wings.
This story takes us through the trials of the Lithuanian
national identity, one family’s story during World War II and a young girl’s
discovery of her place in this family, this history and this world.
This story is beautifully written, tender and terrible at the same time.
Sounds like something I would read. I have a few friends whose parents immigrated from these parts after the war. They never talked about their life, but attending their funerals (as they sadly reach that age) I have learned so much more from their histories. More and more I am realising how devastating those World Wars were in Europe, we lost so much and we are still recovering even now. Our culture, our art, our humanity, so changed, some for the good, so much more not so. History is so important.
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