The Days When Birds Come Back

The affecting latest from Reed (Olivay) chronicles how the lives of a divorced writer and a carpenter are changed when the writer hires the carpenter to prepare her grandparents’ Oregon property for sale. After her husband leaves her, June, who has problems with alcohol and is only a month sober, moves from their home in Ireland back to the now-dilapidated Nestucca Beach property where she was raised by her paternal grandparents following her father’s suicide. On a recommendation from another handyman, June contacts Jameson, who used to live in Nestucca Beach with his wife Sarah Anne; they moved away three years ago after their seven-year-old twins were killed by a gunman. Sarah Anne is enamored with their foster child Ernest, whom she hopes to adopt. Jameson struggles with the idea, because it feels like a betrayal of the memory of their children. Both protagonists are guilt-ridden over the role they think they played in the deaths of their loved ones. Reed is skilled at unraveling their stories gradually, and is particularly adept at both drawing parallels between June and Jameson and depicting how the two help each other through their pain. Though the plot leans a bit too heavily on coincidence, this is an emotionally satisfying novel about the lingering effects of trauma and how people deal with guilt. (Jan.)