"This is a complex and captivating novel which captures the anxiety and heartache of a family trying to heal after years of burying secrets… To paraphrase a couple of integral messages in the book: The past doesn’t have power to determine the future and life is not what happens to you but what you make happen. One is able to finally find the light after much darkness with hope and strength of family ties..
This is an emotional and engrossing read. The mix of characters is outstanding, the plot was well written and the surprise at the end will make the reader say ‘wow’."
★★★★★ Amazon Review
Summary
When her father falls into a coma, Indian American photographer Sonya reluctantly returns to the family she’d fled years before. Since she left home, Sonya has lived on the run, free of any ties, while her soft-spoken sister, Trisha, has created a perfect suburban life, and her ambitious sister, Marin, has built her own successful career. But as these women come together, their various methods of coping with a terrifying history can no longer hold their memories at bay.
Buried secrets rise to the surface as their father—the victim of humiliating racism and perpetrator of horrible violence—remains unconscious. As his condition worsens, the daughters and their mother wrestle with private hopes for his survival or death, as well as their own demons and buried secrets.
Told with forceful honesty, Trail of Broken Wings reveals the burden of shame and secrets, the toxicity of cruelty and aggression, and the exquisite, liberating power of speaking and owning truth.
Excerpt
SONYA
My mother’s voice echoes in the background, her message blaring from my cell phone’s speaker. With each word come memories, filtered through shards of broken glass. I want to, need to, shut the phone off, but my body refuses to move. Her voice gets louder as she calls to me, the desperation in her voice seeping through the fog that is clouding my mind.
With approximately seven billion people in the world, I wonder how one person’s voice can have such an effect. I imagine I am stronger than I used to be, more resilient. That I am the master of my destiny and everyone is a pawn in my game—not the other way around. Because if I am the poker chip, then I have to wait to see how I’ll be played. The unknown is the hardest. Which might explain why we try so hard to rule our worlds. It is the only hope we have to make sense of our lives.
FROM THE EDITOR
Forgiveness is the most important part of healing a broken heart. I have never been reminded of this more than when I read the beautiful debut novel by Sejal Badani. As soon as I finished her tender, heartfelt story of family and forgiveness, I turned to my husband with tears in my eyes and said, “This is a book I’ll be reading over and over again.”
Trail of Broken Wings is elegant, raw, and cinematic. Called home to their father’s hospital bed by their mother, three sisters attempt to rediscover their identities as siblings and slowly begin to piece together the horrible secrets that make up their shared past and present. As their father’s mortality hangs in the balance, each woman battles with where she hopes his condition will lead. The emotional memories and demons they uncover are startling but necessary as they heal, bond with one another, and move on with their lives.
Words can hardly convey my delight at the journey you’ll embark on when you first read this novel. Rarely have I been so moved or more compelled to share a book with others. I expect you will want to reread and share it, too.
– Danielle Marshall, Editor
