by Fannie Flagg, 2004 (Fried Green Tomatoes)
Sweet little book about life and love in a small town in southern Alabama called Lost River. Their mail comes by boat. A Redbird is shot by 2 boys and Roy, the Grocer, nurses it to health. It can’t fly so he keeps it in the grocery store. The whole town loves this bird – called Jack. A little girl, Patsy, who is almost crippled grows to love the bird. She is abandoned and adopted by Frances. Through the love of the townspeople, they are able to raise enough money for an operation to cure her. Jack died the day before she goes to Atlanta for surgery. They decide to not tell her and then, while she is in the hospital, they send her a letter that says a veterinarian cured Jack and he flew off into the wild. Her wish for Christmas is to see him. She waits outside all day but never sees him. Everyone’s hearts are broken. The next day the whole town wakes up to snow and huge flocks of Redbirds everywhere! One of them flew up to her window and winked at her.
The other character is Oswald T. Campbell who is 53 years old and living in Chicago, dying of emphysema and an alcoholic. He moves to Lost River on the advice of his doctor and finds peace, health, joy, and love. He marries Frances. He becomes a great painter.