142 Ostriches

by April Davila

Overview

Set against the unexpected splendor of an ostrich ranch in the California desert, April Dávila’s beautifully written debut conjures an absorbing and compelling heroine in a story of courage, family and forgiveness.
 
When Tallulah Jones was thirteen, her grandmother plucked her from the dank Oakland apartment she shared with her unreliable mom and brought her to the family ostrich ranch in the Mojave Desert. After eleven years caring for the curious, graceful birds, Tallulah accepts a job in Montana and prepares to leave home. But when Grandma Helen dies under strange circumstances, Tallulah inherits everything—just days before the birds inexplicably stop laying eggs.
 
Guarding the secret of the suddenly barren birds, Tallulah endeavors to force through a sale of the ranch, a task that is complicated by the arrival of her extended family. Their designs on the property, and deeply rooted dysfunction, threaten Tallulah’s ambitions and eventually her life. With no options left, Tallulah must pull her head out of the sand and face the fifty-year legacy of a family in turmoil: the reality of her grandmother's death, her mother's alcoholism, her uncle's covetous anger, and the 142 ostriches whose lives are in her hands.

“Vivid…uplifting…The fascinating details of operating an ostrich ranch elevate this family tale.”
—Publishers Weekly
 
“Tension mounts in every chapter, and when the difficult forces converge in the satisfying climax, Tallulah discovers clarity.  This is an enjoyable, winning, interesting novel for readers of many backgrounds.”
—Booklist (starred review)
 
“A story told with depth and beauty about the many things we inherit from our families. Dávila’s characters are familiar, yet unforgettable, and I’m waiting patiently for what she writes next.”
—Wayétu Moore, author of She Would Be King

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496724700
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	02/25/2020
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

April Dávila received her master’s degree in writing from the University of Southern California. She is a member of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a past resident at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony. Her blog, at aprildavila.com, was recently listed by Writer's Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. A fourth-generation Californian, she lives in La Cañada Flintridge with her husband and two children. She is a practicing Buddhist, half-hearted gardener, and occasional runner. 142 Ostriches is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

01/27/2020

In Davila’s vivid, uplifting debut, a free-spirited woman navigates her obligations to a dysfunctional family. Tallulah Jones, 24, works at her grandmother Helen’s ostrich ranch in the California desert while planning to follow her dream of joining the Forest Service in Montana. After Helen’s suspicious death in a car accident, estranged family members gather at her funeral, including meth-addicted Uncle Steve, who is furious that Helen left the ranch to Tallulah. With a buyer for the ranch, Tallulah looks forward to Montana, until Laura, the nomadic and alcoholic mother she hasn’t seen since she was 13, shows up wanting a share of Helen’s estate and threatens to contest the will. Tallulah finds comfort in caring for the ostriches, but then they mysteriously stop laying eggs. As Tallulah gets help with the animals from a sympathetic local while fighting the volatile Steve and riding out Laura’s demands, she reconsiders her future. Davila’s breezy, elegant prose captures the desert’s growing appeal to Tallulah (“Finally, the sun cleared the horizon and blasted everything with its full light”; “There wouldn’t be mornings like this in Montana”). The fascinating details of operating an ostrich ranch elevate this family tale. Agent: Joel Gotler and Murray Weiss, Intellectual Property Group. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Tolstoy probably never envisioned an unhappy family which included ostriches, but these fine feathered beasts nearly steal the heart of this humane and heartfelt debut novel. Davila's protagonist Tallulah must navigate that most fundamental of choices: should I stay or should I go? Anyone who has ever felt the insistent tug of Somewhere Else doing battle with the responsibilities of their Here and Now will find something of themselves in these fine pages.”
—Mark Sarvas, author of Memento Park

“An engrossing and original tale of love, betrayal, and extremely large birds, April Dávila's 142 Ostriches is a novel that blooms like springtime in the California desert. Fiercely independent, brave, and tender, Tallulah Jones is a heroine for our time.”
—Seth Greenland, author of The Hazards of Good Fortune
  
“Vividly imagined and deeply felt, 142 Ostriches is an utterly absorbing tale of an intrepid young woman coming of age in the California desert. I loved Davila’s big-hearted debut about land, family, and the ties that bind. Highly recommended.”
—Lindsey Lee Johnson, author of The Most Dangerous Place on Earth 
 
“142 Ostriches is unlike anything I’ve read before. Wholly unique, this cinematic novel exposes readers to the relatively unknown industry of ostrich farming. In Davila’s skillful hands, the desert comes alive and the ostriches are as compelling as the human characters. Tallulah herself is a memorable, strong-willed protagonist. Her struggle to negotiate family obligations with her own desires feels both singular and highly relatable. I loved following her through the pages of this fast-paced and lovely novel.”
—Amy Meyerson, author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays
 
“April Davila has made the rare thing: The perfect meeting of plot and character. A hurtling adventure of family intrigue helmed by a heroine for the ages, Davila's novel will make your heart swell as big as an ostrich egg, and then hatch it.”
—Katie Williams, author of Tell The Machine Goodnight
 
“Davila’s observant prose conjures the drama of sun-scorched days and the calm of cool painted evenings as it chronicles the struggles and rewards of a rugged life in the vast Mohave. This is a story that envelops you with a sense of place, and uses its setting to reveal how the human heart, like wildflowers after a rampaging storm, can thrive in the harshest conditions. It is a tale as surprising and delightful as a profusion of florid color in the sandy stretches of the California desert.”
—Yvonne Puig, author of A Wife of Nobel Character
 
“142 Ostriches, April Davila’s utterly unique novel, nails the Zeitgeist when she inherits a Death Valley bird ranch she’d hoped to escape.  An avian Greek chorus, the birds seem to observe and share her longing to stand in a place of my own choosing.  With unsentimental acuity, her narrator confronts the intangible covenant foisted upon her, and the reality that the disposal of her flock, from nature to product, is by no means a matter just for the birds.”
—Rita Williams, author of If the Creek Don’t Rise 
 
“An unusual ranching tale set in the Mojave Desert, where the herd is a flock of eight foot tall birds and their wrangler a young woman raised by her gruff grandmother who dreams of another kind of life. A twisty, warmhearted story of family, community and fate, a thoroughgoing delight.”
—Janet Fitch, author of The Revolution of Marina M and Chimes of a Lost Cathedral
 
“Compelling and beautifully written — you need to read this book.”
—Erin La Rosa, author of The Big Redhead Book and Womanskills

From the Publisher