The Bird Hotel

Two weeks before her seventh birthday, the narrator learns from the television that her mother is dead. Her grandmother says people will be looking for them, so they move, and Grammy changes the narrator’s name from Joan to Irene, using paperwork from a friend whose granddaughter died. A box arrives, labeled in her mother’s handwriting, of her mother’s favorite vinyl records. At school, Irene tells classmates that her mother is a famous singer who is away recording albums. She loved when her mother sang to her at night, especially when she sang old ballads. Diana had a succession of boyfriends, one of whom, Indigo, threw young Irene into the pool and gave her a fear of water. The boyfriend Irene liked was Daniel, a nurse. Irene thinks her mother “was a person who needed a man at her side, and she never had any trouble finding one” (6). Irene and her mother traveled across the country going to concerts, and Irene thought that Diana showed more care for her vinyl records than she did for Irene. After Daniel left them, Diana met a man named Charlie who said he was part of the Weather Underground. They followed him to New York City, and Diana sent Irene to live with Diana’s mother, though she didn’t plan to stay with Charlie.

The television reports an explosion at the Weather Underground house. There are no survivors, and an off-duty policeman, who had three daughters and a 10-year-old son, was among those killed in the blast. The only body part found is a woman’s fingertip. After that, Diana and Irene change their names and move several times. Irene’s grandmother locates Irene’s father, Ray, who is living in British Columbia with his new family. He invites Irene to visit. Irene’s grandmother lives in fear of being found by law enforcement. She dies when Irene is 18, and on her deathbed, she tells Irene to never reveal who she is.

Alone after her grandmother’s death, Irene finished art school. At a gallery show that includes her work, she meets Lenny, a man with a sunny personality. Irene is showing a series of drawings of conures—exotic birds that have taken up residence in San Francisco after escaping a pet store (18). Lenny is a grade-school teacher and a Giants fan and comes from a large, happy family. After a year together, they have a son, Arlo, and get married. Lenny wishes Irene felt more comfortable around his family and doesn’t understand why her father, Ray, doesn’t want to see her.

Though she is happy, Irene still keeps her past a secret. She learns that DNA testing is now being used to help solve crimes. A friend from art school says a detective came by asking questions about Irene, calling her Joan.

The Giants are playing in the World Series, and before game three, Lenny and Arlo and Irene visit the store and buy Arlo a balloon. As they walk home, Arlo’s balloon floats away, and he runs into the street to catch it. As a van comes around the corner, Lenny leaps into the street chasing the balloon. Both Lenny and Arlo are struck and killed.

That same day, the Loma Prieta earthquake hits San Francisco, but all that matters to Irene is that “In the space of an instant everything I had loved in the world floated away—the two people on the planet who had my heart” (36). She avoids Lenny’s family. Six months after the accident, while she is at home, a conure looks through the window at her. Irene senses that the bird is telling her to escape. She clears out her apartment, gives away her vinyl records, and goes to the Golden Gate Bridge. But she can’t jump, thinking, “It suddenly seemed not simply wrong, but disloyal to my darling husband and our precious son to throw away my life because they’d lost theirs” (39). She walks until she sees people boarding a green bus decorated like a turtle. The bus is going to Mexico, and though Irene has no money, she is invited aboard.

Riding the bus reminds Irene of her youth. She ends up next to a pregnant woman and the woman’s young daughter, Everest, who asks her about whether she wants to have a child. People share their food, so money isn’t a concern.

While the bus is broken down, one of the drivers, Gary, visits a casino. He later gives Irene a wad of money. The bus stops at Tapachula. Irene walks to the airport, where she boards a flight to the capital city, San Felipe. Clearing customs, Irene sees a bus heading to Lago La Paz—Peace Lake—and boards it. She notes the differences from the US not just in landscape but in culture, with small children selling crafts and roads without safety features. A woman on the bus tells Irene to go to La Esperanza, a word meaning hope.

Irene arrives at Lago La Paz, a large lake surrounded by small villages and a volcano looming over all. The locals call it El Fuego—the fire. The place is almost completely undeveloped. Her companions are “a few aging hippies” (53) and a vacationing couple. Irene notes all the women who are carrying babies. At La Esperanza, Irene chooses a small boy as her guide and tells him she is looking for a place to stay. His name is Walter, and he takes her through town to “the most beautiful place in the village” (55).

The sign on the door says La Llorona. A woman opens it and identifies herself as Leila. Irene almost gives her the name Joan. Leila leads Irene down a long flight of stone steps into a “wild, fantastical garden” (57). Among the plants are carvings, including one of a giant egg. The place seems out of a fairy tale: Irene thinks, “I had never seen anyplace so beautiful, or one offering greater evidence of love on the part of its creator” (58). Beautiful as it is, Irene can also see that the property is falling apart. Examining the artwork, she sees that one picture depicts a variety of natural disasters, including an erupting volcano. Irene is the only guest. Leila gives her a dress to wear, and she takes a long shower.

Dinner is fish harpooned that morning by Pablito. Luis oversees and maintains the property, and Maria is the chef. Their son Elmer, 16, helps with maintenance. Mirabel, a beautiful young woman, also works at the hotel. The dinner is delicious. Leila says she doesn’t advertise La Llorona; “The people who are meant to come here find their way” (63). Leila loves beautiful things and is full of stories. She sees the volcano as a reminder to treasure each day.

At La Llorona, for the first time in months, Irene sleeps without having nightmares of her son and Lenny. She wakes to the singing of birds. She feels her senses returning; she is no longer numb. She eats and explores the gardens Leila planted. Leila mentions that she has a blood clot lurking in her veins somewhere. She invites Irene to come with her to market.

Irene sees several vendors, including a young man offering Mayan astrology. That is Andres, and Leila warns Irene to stay away from him. Irene isn’t bothered, as she expected to be, by the sight of children: “I was in a whole other world where none of the usual rules applied, including the timetable for grief, if there was such a thing” (70). She sees foreigners, not the usual vacationers but hippies. They buy shrimp and eat them for dinner. Leila doesn’t pry into Irene’s past. Instead, she tells Irene her story.

Leila tells her life story: She was born in Nebraska, and her uncle, Timmy, who was a soldier in World War II, married a girl he met in France. When Timmy was killed, Noemi, who was pregnant, came to Nebraska. The family took her in, and Leila was fascinated by her. Noemi taught Leila how to make macarons. She taught Leila French, and Leila taught her English. After Noemi married again and moved out, Leila won a baking contest with Noemi’s macarons and used the money to go to Paris. She found work in a bakery, and one day, she waited on a customer who she later learned was Marlon Brando. Leila became his lover, and he took her with him to investigate a property he had bought. When they landed in La Esperanza, Leila felt at home. Brando decided to move on, but Leila wanted to stay, saying, “I had fallen in love with a volcano and a lake and a village” (84). She bought property and started a garden.

Irene writes to Lenny’s parents, thanking them and apologizing for leaving without saying goodbye. She doesn’t give a return address.