My Hummingbird Father

My Hummingbird Father is a very special novel. Dominique, an artist, troubled and torn, receives a letter from her dying father. This correspondence brings out hidden memories, forgotten moments and reveries on things past and to come. It is a haunting novel, taking us to Paris and Venezuela - to a romance with Juan, to considered moments of time with her father. The writing us lyrical, engaging and full of moments of magic realism. A very memorable novel, beautifully written.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC

My Hummingbird Father is an enigma - transcending cultures and even worlds; this is a hypnotic tale that weaves around you with a deep sense of poetry and magical realism.

Dominique is an artist; a troubled life haunted by the abuse from her mother and a father who vanished when she was six but it is through her work she tries to exorcise her demons.

She also seems to have the ability to foretell events through her artwork -primary to this is a dream about her father which is transferred to canvas with an uncanny likeness as within days she is contacted by his solicitor with a request to meet him as he is dying.

Dominique wants the truth - Why did he leave? Why was her mother so resentful towards her? Dark secrets are unlocked once she visits her father in Paris.The childhood trauma inflicted reemerges throughout the book- harrowing at times- and leads her to find her own salvation through the natural world.

The surreal nature further unfolds as Dominique travels to Venezuela as inspiration to her art- she is guided by the mystical Juan - from the indigenous Pemon community- he is a shaman and can ward off spirits and helps Dominique explore unknown feelings hidden deeply within
This new relationship, the rediscovering of Paris from her childhood and the encounters with her father and subsequent discovered correspondence from his life lead Dominique on a very personal journey of acceptance, understanding and discovery.

The Lost world of her Parisian childhood is explored finding imagery , flora and fauna that transport her back to Venezuela.
Pascale Petit has written a lyrical novel that defines genre - challenging at times, beautifully composed and magical.

Thank you to Netgalley for this advance copy

This book is astonishing, it is so absorbing, raw, painful and hopeful, there isn't a wasted word or sentence and it offers every feeling economically and with a brutal truth..

Isolated artist Dominique receives a letter from her father's lawyer that her father is in Paris and is dying. She hasn't had contact with him for 30 of her 37 years, and the novel is the exploration of the reasons for that and also the resolution.

Dominque's paintings and experience of South America merge with meetings with her father, and the entwined narrative of exploration in the wild and in the streets of Paris are incredibly moving, as she comes to realise things about her past and her family that were partially forgotten and not understood.

Dreamlike connections and surreal sequences have real impact, the vivid tenderness and the horror of memory combine into breathtaking moments - Petit has an incredible command of the language and I was completely bought in to every page and every feeling.

A truly wonderful book - don't miss reading this one, you won't regret it.