The Gravity of Birds

​TITLE: The Gravity of Birds
AUTHOR: Tracy Guzeman
PUBLISHER: Harper Collins
REVIEWER: Gail Gilbride www.gailies.com
The Gravity of Birds is an exquisite debut novel, which I came across by chance…
Sibling rivalry, love and the consequence of choices are deftly interwoven in this intriguing story.
Forty-four years after Thomas Bayber an extraordinary young artist, first meets 

Alice and Natalie Kessler, he reveals a secret painting. Kessler Sisters is an evocative piece of art, portraying the charming young artist himself, with Alice and Natalie.
Bayber persuades Dennis Finch, an art history professor, and Stephen Jameson, a young authenticator, to explore the possibility of selling the painting. It sounds like a simple enough request…but there is a caveat. They first need to locate the sisters, who seem to have vanished.
 Revelations about the past, are juxtaposed with clues Finch and Jameson discover in the present. History catches up with them all and we are drawn into family secrets, which have brought about devastating consequences. The question which lingered long after reading this story was - are we ever able to correct our past mistakes or should we be content to simply forgive them?
Guzeman writes with passion and delicacy. There are many evocative passages which I went back to a number of times. The author weaves the sisters’ conflict, the intrigue of a missing painting, and the grief of long lost love, into a poignant tale which resonated deeply.
I will be on the lookout for more of Tracy Guzeman’s work. ​