Birds of Paradise

Description

134 pages
Contains Photos
$12.95
ISBN 1-895387-79-5
DDC C813'.54

Year

1997

Contributor

Reviewed by Kim Fahner

Kim Fahner is the author of You Must Imagine the Cold Here.

Review

This delightful collection of seven short stories features feisty, funky
women who are on personal dream quests. In the title story, a woman’s
rather routine life is turned upside down by the actions of a Middle
Eastern poet named Salim. In “Apartment Hunting,” an older woman
searches for a new apartment and finds unexpected power in her choice of
brightly colored clothes from different countries and cultures. The two
companion tales of Kettle Valley move from the naiveté of youth to the
wisdom that comes with experience.

Pereira’s stories paint a vivid and multifaceted portrait of older
women’s lives in the 1990s. They blow stereotypes out of the water and
replace them with the new realities of bright, creative women in search
of their dreams. Women of all ages will applaud Birds of Paradise .

Citation

Pereira, Helen., “Birds of Paradise,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed December 8, 2024, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/2935.