Winter Birds is the first novel by an amazingly talent author I have long admired and respected. I ordered this book only a few weeks after finishing Dreamboy, I had read numerous book before it but was unable to stop thinking about how Grimsley's words had changed my life. (my gay movement was well under way).
Winterbirds is not a gay story in tale but tells a very inspiring story of growing up alone in a vastly growing family in the deep south. Written exclusively in second person you are injected into the very real and disturbed Crell family, narrated directly to you by an a beloved sibling you quickly learn the adversity of your own life, your younger years, the discovery of your hemophilia, your abusive father's rages and chronically pregnant mothers love. With chapters raging from a few pages to over 100 in length Grimsley infuses how life is divided by the experiences we live. A bumpy ride is brought to a seriously disturbing end in one of the most powerful final scene i have ever read.
We find ourselves infused again in the life of Danny Crell in the unrelated sequel to Winter Birds, Comfort and Joy. Dan a hemophiliac with HIV and Ford a doctor from Savannah (who isn't "gay") are happy for the most part and want to make a life together, the only thing left is to meet the family, in this unique take on the holidays. I purchased this book years after reading Winter Birds and immediately fell in love with this love story with problems.
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