My Goodreads and Amazon review of Aviary by Deirdre McNamer (Rating 3) – Caged Characters. When Aviary by Deirdre McNamer was published, about a developer’s scheme to take over a retirement residence in pre-COVID Montana, I was already well into well into my novel-in-progress about a similar venture at an old age home, albeit set in 1960s Michigan. Hence, I read this book with curiosity about how the subject was treated, and dismay that another writer had beaten me to it. I was relieved to discover that while McNamer and I both tell our stories from multiple viewpoints, including seniors and other community members, our tales are otherwise quite different. Aviary is in many ways a mystery: Who is behind a fire in the building? Why have the manager and an elderly tenant disappeared? Is a troubled teenager connected to these events? I found the loose ends and far-fetched plot elements unsatisfying. Aviary is also meant to explore how the elderly come to terms with life’s disappointments and losses as they weigh how, or even whether, to go on living. However, among McNamer’s quirky and stereotypical characters, I was invested in the fate of only one, Cassie McMackin, whose portrait is itself sketchy. Ultimately, the varied cast is an aviary of caged birds, desperate to be freed by the author. As a fiction writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I don’t limit myself to likable protagonists. But they should be complex enough to make readers reflect on their motivations and assess the “fitness” of their actions. In the end, McNamer prizes the mysteries of plot rather than those of character.
