The Day of Small Things Book

Sometimes a minor character insists upon having her own story told. This is what happened to Vicki Lane with her Elizabeth Goodweather mysteries when the character of Birdie interrupted the series with her own tale. Born in Dark Holler in 1922 and named Least by a mother grieving the loss of her husband and son, she grows up neglected and wild, finding comfort in the "Little Things" in the bushes and talking to the "Quiet People" in the graveyard. By all accounts, Least is "quare" and her mother keeps her out of school to work on the farm and household. Only when her grandmother comes to live with them does Least find love and understanding, for her grandmother recognizes that she has the gift of seeing, a legacy from a Cherokee ancestor. Her grandmother secretly teaches her some of the Cherokee magic and family lore, but she is not in Least's life for long. A run-away in her teens, Least transforms into Redbird Ray until she buries the traumas of her past and becomes Birdie. She must choose between a life with the man she loves and her Cherokee magic, for the spells and knowledge of healing plants were considered witchcraft by others in their mountain hamlet. Then the book jumps to 2007 when Birdie, now an old woman, is asked to aid a relative in saving an innocent teenager from the grips of an evil darkness. To do so she must call upon ancient powers at the risk of her own frail life.

Vicki Lane is wonderful at evoking the setting of the North Carolina Appalachians and the accent and colloquialisms of its folk. She weaves bits of local history through the story, citing artifacts such as newspaper clippings, song lyrics, interviews with an old traditional Cherokee, and recipe for an herbal tonic. In Birdie she has created a wise but uneducated mountain woman, strong and resilient from hardship and tragedy, with an open heart that sees true. I'm glad that Vicki Lane gave her voice to tell her own piece of the story.