The innocence of birds

As all hell breaks loose in 1992, Irena and her family, attacked by Serbian soldiers, flee in search of safety, crossing the river that divides the city. In a new and harsh reality, her daily life of sports, music, and movies is replaced by a scenario in which she must steal from the dead to buy food and live on constant alert, as gunfire can come from all sides. Seeking a way to make a living in a city in ruins, the young woman begins working scrubbing floors. However, under the tutelage of a resistance group, she holds a firearm for the first time—and does very well, disturbingly well. In a short time—learning to bide her time, to never return to the same observation post, to identify the "fog" around the target, the hallmarks of a successful shot—she becomes a sharpshooter. But this new calling will lead her down an unexpected path, one that will have Irena facing complex and cataclysmic consequences. Scott Simon's The Innocence of Birds is a work of profound emotions—humors and horrors. A beautifully told story, a remarkable debut novel.