On a wet August afternoon in Brussels nine years ago my husband suggested returning to the English bookshop – there were some science books he had yet to peruse. The shop also bought and sold secondhand books so I took along two novels to sell, and with my three euros bought a nearly-new copy of Fannie Flagg’s Redbird Christmas.
It may have looked like a book for Christmas, but when I dipped into the first couple of chapters on the journey home I was hooked. I barely spoke to my husband until I had finished the novel back home in London that evening. The next day I started reading it again.
Fanny Flagg is better known for Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe and Welcome to the World Baby Girl. In this 200-page novel she assembles a cast of endearing characters who take you on a magical emotional journey. At is core is a kind-spirited community that comes together to make a family.
It starts in a cold, wet Chicago November, when Oswald T Campbell – a loner in his 50s – is told that he has emphysema. In a warmer climate he might just live for a year or two, but if he stays in such a cold, damp climate, this Christmas will be his last. It’s this news that lands him in the small community of Lost River, Alabama.
Oswald hates Christmas. It highlights his loneliness and drives him back to drink. Abandoned as a baby in a basket on the steps of a church with just a tin of Campbell’s tomato soup, he has drifted through life with no real family. However in Lost River, he is reluctantly pulled into the celebrations. There is a Christmas Eve dinner and a mystic tree, and he is touched to receive a bird-watching book from Santa.
Lost River’s social life is organised by its retired women. Chief among these is Frances, president of the do-gooding Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society. She sees Oswald as a lodger for Betty and her elderly mother Miss Alma, who regularly sees elephants and flying turtles in her yard, as well as a possible partner for her sister Mildred – if only Mildred would stop reading racy romance novels and dyeing her hair outlandish colours.
At first, like Oswald, you feel overwhelmed by the eccentricities of the Lost River characters and their way of life. But soon they chip away at your cynicism and win you over with their community spirit, kindness and compassion. You also begin to appreciate the verdant river landscape, with its amazing array of birds and fish, which Oswald gradually comes to love.
The catalyst of the story is Jack, a red cardinal (dubbed a redbird by the locals) who lives in the town’s general store after being rescued by the owner, Roy.
Oswald meets Jack on his first day and is intrigued – as is Patsy, a shy, neglected five-year-old who has difficulty walking. Jack draws her into the shop and becomes her best friend, bringing some much needed happiness into her life.
As neither Patsy, Oswald nor Jack knows the date of their birth, Oswald decides they should share a special “secret day”. The treasured beanie hat with Dr Pepper buttons that Oswald buys Patsy stays firmly on her head from there on, and she holds on tight to a photograph Oswald takes of her and Jack on their shared birthday during some dark days that follow.
“All you have to do is want something really bad it will really happen” Oswald assures Patsy – wise words that she keeps quoting back at him. The novel is about how they both win through, and eventually get the family that they each so badly need.
The story spans just over a year and by the second Christmas you are hoping that a miracle will happen. It is a bit delayed and not quite what you expect but when it comes it will fill you with joy. If you want a book about the kindness of people and the true meaning of family, this is one to wallow in by the fireside. I’ve bought numerous copies for friends over the years, but my original secondhand, slightly dog-eared paperback stays put on my bookshelf
