When She Flew (35 page)

I still miss Sweetie-pie so much, and I hope and pray she’s all right, but the birds here are plentiful, with far more waterfowl than I used to see in the Joseph Woods. On misty mornings, when I am out collecting kindling, or foraging for blackberries or mushrooms, I see osprey and egrets, pelicans, geese, and too many kinds of ducks to name. I try not to feel sad that most of these beautiful birds will be gone soon; I know they’ll be back next spring.

The most magical bird of all, of course, the one that makes my heart fill at the sight of it, is the great blue heron. I see them all the time now, standing tall in ponds fishing for breakfast or flying low, skimming the edges of the tributaries that feed the river, long stick legs tucked beneath them, wings spread wide and feathery. I study and draw them, crouching and hiding behind rocks and shrubs, but no heron has ever let me get as close as my first.

Somehow, I think it’s better that way.

Jennie Shortridge
lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, and juggles her time between writing novels and working in the community to foster literacy. To invite Jennie Shortridge to participate in your book group meeting, contact her through her Web site:
www.jennieshortridge.com
.

Q. This book was inspired by true events. What about the original story made you want to write
When She Flew,
and why as fiction rather than nonfiction? How does
When She Flew
differ from the true-life story?

 

 

A. In 2004, a Vietnam War veteran and his young daughter were found living in a large forested park abutting the city of Portland. I think everyone in Portland was mesmerized by the events: that they’d lived there so long, something like six years, and that the girl was so well-adjusted. The reaction of the Portland community to their poignant story was exceptional. I wanted to write about people living and dealing with such extraordinary circumstances, but at the same time I didn’t want to simply write a journalistic report of this particular father and daughter. Their story certainly inspired my book, but I have used the medium of fiction to explore and imagine broader issues of human and social relationships. The freedom that I have as a novelist allowed me to take real events as merely the starting point to create something conversation guide new and inventive that hopefully entertains the reader while, at the same time, encourages thought and reflection about who we are and how we live in our society.

 

 

 

 

A. Yes, it was quite different, because I had a naturally occurring story outline to write to; I don’t usually use outlines. That said, most fiction is written from some kind of personal experience that the writer reshapes and reimag ines into a new fictive entity, and I enjoyed creating all of the different characters and situations that moved the emotional part of the story along.

 

 

A. Lindy’s strong voice surprised me at first. She just started talking about birds in her unique way, and the metaphor was born. The hard part was that I had to quickly do the research to catch up with her! I knew nothing about birds or police procedure. I was helped a great deal by a friend who is a bird expert, and by the actual police sergeant on the case, who endured all of my questions, from “What do you wear on your duty belt?” to “How did you feel when you found them?” He is a cop’s cop, a guy’s guy, and he was such a good sport about all of it.

 

 

Q. How do you think
When She Flew
is a departure from your other novels? How is it the same?

 

A. The obvious difference is that it’s more action-oriented, more plot-driven in some ways, especially in the first half of the book. But it’s still very much a story about the frailties and strengths of people, and what happens when they all bump into one another. It’s still about family and relationships, love and loss and healing, all the things I usually find myself drawn to write about.

 

 

Q. Each of your books represents a point of view about the human condition. What would you like readers to take away from reading
When She Flew
?

 

A. There is a metaphor in
When She Flew
that is apt for what I aim to do in each book, and that is to turn over stones and tell the story of what lies beneath them. In our society, we don’t see the homeless, or we see all homeless people as one teeming organism. In this story, we get to know two people who live outside of traditional means and see their humanness, their struggles and small victories and disappointments. I also think most of us don’t have a clue what it’s like to be a police officer. Again, we lump them into a type or subspecies of human. In this story I hope I’ve humanized what it’s like to be a cop—a person who, just like us, has hopes, dreams, strong feelings, and doubts, as well as family and friends, homes and pets and bills.

 

 

 

 

A. Absolutely. The father in
When She Flew
is a disabled Iraq War vet doing his best to raise his daughter on a small military pension. He also struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, something we’re hearing more and more about in the news regarding our returning soldiers. Perhaps Ray doesn’t make the kind of decisions you or I would when it comes to the way he and Lindy live, but he does a lot of things really well that are good for her. What makes a home? What is safety? Is there such a thing as the “right” way to raise a kid, to educate her? Each family is different, and I think it’s dangerous when our society doesn’t take those differences into account.

 

 

Q. How did you come to the title
When She Flew
? What does it mean to you?

 

 

A. Literally, it came from a postcard of one of Brian Andreas’s artworks that I’ve kept propped in front of my work space for many years (I used the quote from it as the epigraph for the book). Each of the female characters in this story tries out her wings—tries something different from usual—and each experiences a metamorphosis by doing so. Their interwoven flight paths are what propel the story.

1. What is the significance of birds in
When She Flew
?

2. What are the central themes of the story, and do they apply to your life as well? How so?

3. Which daughter—Nina or Lindy—was raised in the best of circumstances? The safest environment? The most loving? Did one have it better than the other? Was one parented better than the other?

4. Why didn’t Ray utilize the services available for homeless families and veterans? Do you think Lindy is better off in the woods with Ray than in a foster home? What is she missing and/or gaining in either situation?

5. Do you believe the responding officers made the appropriate decisions? Who should be responsible for determining what is in a child’s best interest, the parent or the state?

6. Should Jess have been disciplined for her actions? To what extent?

7. How did Jess’s past affect her actions in the story? In what ways did this event change her?

8. Was Lindy also changed by this experience? How so? Do you believe she’ll ever come back to live in society?

9. How might have the outcome of the situation been different if the news about Ray and Lindy hadn’t been leaked to the media? Was the press at fault for pursuing the story, or were they just doing their jobs? How do you feel about the role media plays in our society today?