From the author of the acclaimed debut novel The Curiosity comes an emotionally resonant tale about a woman who must take care of two wounded men – one, her soldier-husband, just home from the war in Iraq; the other, a dying World War II scholar-historian who harbors a long-buried secret.Deborah Birch is a seasoned hospice nurse whose daily work requires courage and compassion. But her skills and … courage and compassion. But her skills and experience are tested in new and dramatic ways when her easygoing husband, Michael, returns from his third deployment to Iraq haunted by nightmares, anxiety, and rage. She is determined to help him heal, and to restore the tender, loving marriage they once had.
At the same time, Deborah’s primary patient is Barclay Reed, a retired history professor and expert in the Pacific Theater of World War II whose career ended in academic scandal. Alone in the world, the embittered professor is dying. As Barclay begrudgingly comes to trust Deborah, he tells her stories from that long-ago war, which help her find a way to help her husband battle his demons.
Told with piercing empathy and heartbreaking realism, The Hummingbird is a masterful story of loving commitment, service to country, and absolution through wisdom and forgiveness.
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Stephen Kiernan’s book The Hummingbird tells the story of Deborah, a dedicated hospice nurse who is struggling with her most important patient: her husband Michael. Michael is fighting to make sense of his own life after his third tour in Iraq as an Army sniper. Kiernan brings to light an issue seriously plaguing America today: over 400,000 of returning veterans have been diagnosed with some form of PTSD. Seventeen vets commit suicide in the United States every day.
As Deborah goes from patient to patient each day in Portland, Oregon, her husband Michael tries to put the pieces back together. He is barely able to hold onto his job as a mechanic (only because he owns the garage), and he grapples with anger issues, putting him at odds with the law at one point. He pushes away Deborah each time she tries to approach him to talk about his pain. Deborah, meanwhile, attends to a new patient, the prickly Professor Barclay, who has terminal kidney disease, has no family, and has been disgraced and forced into retirement from Portland State due to an academic scandal. As it turns out, Barclay is an expert on World War 2. He has recently finished his last book about the little-known, failed Japanese bombing campaign of the Pacific Northwest. At this point Kiernan alternates chapters between Deborah and Michael, and Deborah reading aloud Barclay’s book to the ailing yet intellectually jousting professor. His book traces the path of reconciliation of a Japanese veteran and a bitter resident of Oregon who witnessed the Japanese bombings in 1942.
Deborah gains important clues from her interactions with Professor Barclay and through the reading of his book as to how she might help her husband heal from his mental trauma. Tensions mount when Barclay’s estranged daughter appears at the home. Michael also begins to show signs that he has had enough and is ready to take his own life. After a dramatic failed attempt at drowning, Deborah is able to bring Michael back, with the help of an adopted dog (Michael was partly traumatized by wild dogs in Iraq). Barclay makes peace with himself and with his daughter (through a letter), and Deborah stays with him till he passes away.
There are parts of this novel of the novel that I liked. Having gone through hospice recently with my own father, I was able to better understand this underappreciated profession. The issue of veterans is also something people should know more about, and I salute Kiernan for bringing this to our attention. But something about the writing gives me pause to rate this as a great book. Perhaps it is a man trying to write from a woman’s standpoint. I’m not sure, but I wasn’t drawn into the characters. Also, some of the historical background of Japanese history is sloppily and inaccurately presented. Kiernan (or Barclay) writes that Togo was Admiral of the Japanese fleet by the 1940s, and that the man who plotted and carried out the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto was Togo’s ‘colleague.’ Actually, they never met personally, and Togo died in 1934 (though Yamamoto did serve under Togo as a midshipman and lost two fingers in the Russo-Japanese War). Also, Kiernan writes that Japan sits in the South Pacific (p. 24) and is located southeast of China (p. 104). There are other sloppy historical mistakes, but the main issues I had with the book were about language and identity. However, The Hummingbird is a worthy read if you want to better understand veteran or hospice issues.
Deborah Birch, the wife of an anguished Iraq war vet Michael, is a hospice nurse who ends up caring for the crusty old war history professor Barclay Reed. Does one brief relationship provide enlightenment to any other relationships? Read to find out. What a beautiful story this is—full of courage, compassion, patience, forgiveness, and loving surrender! The casting for the audio version is perfect, with Elyse Mirto and John H. Mayer.
Loved this story. Loved the character development. Loved how the 3 different story lines were woven thru the novel. Highly recommend.
Very insightful story within a story
I enjoyed the story and the characters, and found their interactions to be believable and intriguing.
Being a former Hospice nurse I could relate to the main character Deborah and the journey with her patient was beneficial to both and her love and care of her ptsd husband. What a trial for all the characters It was
A very interesting novel
Very good book about hospice care
Very good plot and characters. New perspective on hospice care, PTSD and life
A great read for anyone who has any connection with Hospice care, knows someone with PTSD, loves craggy old characters and is curious about how events in the past shape us in the present. Loved this book.
I really liked the parallel between the older dying man and the man with PTSD. I am a firm believer that we all have something to offer, even in, and perhaps mostly, when dying.
I enjoyed everything about this book. The characters , the historical information and the poignancy of the phases of dying. As a retired nurse, I could never understand the Hospice nurse. This book was an I opener.
This book is a wake-up call for anyone who feels he can simply outlive his mistakes. Our time is brief and limited and we must take advantage of every opportunity. Don’t arrive at the final hour with a laundry list of regrets.
So little in our culture addressing dying in any frank way. This novel about a hospice nurse, her cantankerous patient, and her husband who’s a vet with PTSD helped me after my mom passed & it’s also guiding me as my beloved black Lab enters his final chapter.