Where the Sweet Bird Sings

A Novel

By: Ella Joy Olsen

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani

In this provocative new novel, the author of Root, Petal, Thorn offers a powerful story of resilience, hope, and the secrets that, no matter how deeply hidden, can shape and ultimately unite a family. What connects us to one another? Is it shared history? Is it ancestry? Is it blood? Or is it love?

People respond to tragedy in different ways. Some try to move on. Some don't move at all. A year after her young son's death due to a rare genetic disease, Emma Hazelton is still frozen by grief, unable and unwilling to consider her husband Noah's suggestion that they try to have another child.

As the future Emma once imagined crumbles, her family's past comes into sharp relief. Searching for the roots of her son's disease, Emma tries to fit together the pieces in her genealogical puzzle. Hidden within an old wedding photograph of her great-grandparents is an unusual truth Emma never guessed at - a window into all the ways that love can be surprising, generous, and fiercely brave...and a discovery that may help her find her own way forward at last.

©2017 Ella Joy Olsen (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

Ancestry, mystery and grief

This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows I’m interested in ancestral research and I am so grateful! The cover is a bit of a mismatch with my typical choices so I was hesitant, but I’m so glad I gave it a try. It is a step by step mystery discovering the roots a genetically transmitted disease as revealed through ancestry and family secrets. Plus it’s a love story, and a story about the meaning of family, and of grief. The narrator is fantastic! I shed a few sad and a few hopeful tears, some of which are still falling as i type this. Recommend!

A walk through History tied to genetics

I really enjoyed this book. It starts out as a story of loss and the losses a couple experienced loosing thier child. It is also the story of genetics and a back story of history tied to the main character and her grandparents. Take a listen and enjoy! You won't be disappointed.