"You want a bit of Birdie?"
-- The Tricking of Freya by Christina Sunley
Odd first sentence. But it quickly becomes clear that the narrator is talking about her aunt, nicknamed "Birdie," and is about to tell a story about her.
In fact, the first couple of pages are odd, until you realize that the narrator is writing a letter to an unknown cousin, Birdie's child. Once things fall into place, the book takes off and is incredibly good.
I am reading this because I got it from LibraryThing and am diligently working through my Early Reviewer list so I can get back in LibraryThing's good graces. But it totally sucked me in. It is a complicated story, well told, and is all about Iceland and Icelandic immigrants -- a topic I know nothing about. It is really interesting and entertaining.
