Flyaway - A Review

About Flyaway

In this captivating memoir, Suzie Gilbert tells the rollicking story of how she turned her family life upside down to pursue her unusual passion for rehabilitating wild birds.

Through adolescence and into adulthood, Suzie Gilbert struggled to find her calling. But when she took a job working at the animal hospital near her home in New York’s Hudson Valley, her passion was born. She began bringing abused and unwanted parrots home and volunteering at a local raptor rehabilitation center, activities she continued for the next eleven years, even as she started a family. Then came the ultimate commitment to her cause: turning her home into Flyaway, Inc., a nonprofit wild bird rehabilitation center.

Gilbert chronicles the years of her chaotic household-cum-bird-hospital with delightful wit, recounting the confusion that ensued as her husband and two young children struggled to live in a house where parrots shrieked Motown songs, nestling robins required food every twenty minutes, and recuperating herons took over the spare bathroom. Gradually, however, the birds came to represent the value of compassion and the importance of pursuing even the most unlikely of dreams.

Often funny, sometimes painful, Gilbert’s encounters with these beautiful creatures reveal profound truths not only about animals but also about our own lives—lessons of birth and death, suffering and empathy, holding on and letting go.

Original, lyrical, and highly entertaining, Flyaway will forever change the way you see this amazing member of the animal kingdom.

My Review

Most of my long time readers know of my interest in both photography and nature. A book review is not something you would normally find on either of my blogs. When I was asked to review Flyaway I first hesitated but then read the synopsis and a little information on the author. The book sounded very interesting so I accepted the offer.

As soon as I started the first chapter of Flyaway I was hooked. This is a delightful book filled with humor, moments of sadness, discovery and most of all life. As I read I tried to imagine what it would be like to make the commitment to rescue and care for wild birds while raising a family. Suzie Gilbert takes her readers through all the adventures and misadventures she encountered while making her dream of a wild bird rehabilitation center come true.

When the phone rings it could be someone calling about a baby blue jay who has lost its parents or maybe a peregrine falcon. And even a woodchuck might need some assistance once in awhile.

The book is well written and has beautiful illustrations of a number of wild birds. You will also learn much about our feathered friends and what we can do to to protect them. This is truly a remarkable story and I highly recommend Flyaway to all my readers.



Suzie Gilbert also has a website you can visit. Be sure to watch the video of the release of a recovered Red-tailed Hawk. To purchase a copy of Flyaway look HERE.

Also, and this is very exciting, Suzie will be dropping by for a visit. Stay tuned for more information.

I was not compensated for this review.