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A spectacularly vibrant, original debut, The Lovebird takes us from the orange-scented streets of Southern California to the vast prairie landscape of Montana, and introduces us to Margie Fitzgerald, a spirited and unforgettable heroine for our times.
Margie has always had a soft spot for helpless creatures. Her warm heart breaks, her left ovary twinges, and she is smitten with sympathy. This is how she falls in love with Simon Mellinkoff, her charismatic, obviously troubled Latin professor.
As the two embark on an unconventional romance, Simon introduces Margie to his small coterie of animal rights activists, and with this ragtag group she finds her apparent mission in life. But Margie's increasingly reckless and dangerous actions force her to flee her California college town, say goodbye to her fragile dad, and seek shelter on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana.
Here, against a backdrop of endless grass and sky, Margie meets a soap opera-loving grandmother, an intriguing, ink-splattered man, and an inscrutable eleven-year-old girl—and makes unexpected discoveries about her heart.
Suffused with humor and compassion, The Lovebird is a radiant novel about one young woman's love of animals, yearning for connection, and search for her place in this world.
You can see the full discussion in our legacy forum here. This discussion will contain spoilers!
Some of the recent comments posted about The Lovebird:
Ask Natalie Brown a question about 'The Lovebird'
I don't have a question for you. But, do want to say thank you, not only for writing such an engaging novel, but for taking the time and making the effort to answer the questions here. I find it refreshing and helpful. I shall look forward to ... - Lea Ann
Chapter Titles
I loved the use of animal names as chapter titles. This is a book I would reread with a different focus and could find many more connections. - sandra54
Did Simon ever truly care about Margie? How did you feel about his character?
A friend loaned me her copy of this book after she read it for Book Browse, and Simon seemed very realistic and unlikable -older guy, fighting getting old by going after a younger woman AND choosing someone who is vulnerable. His parting words to get... - rebeccar
Did you connect with Margie's concerns about the treatment and welfare of animals? What animal-related issues did the book raise for you?
I definitely related to Margie's concerns for suffering animals and the deplorable conditions of food factory situations. It reminded me of the shock I felt after watching a documentary on American food called Food, Inc. I do not support violent ... - rebeccar
Did you like the book?
I liked the second half better (as many people have commented), and I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this book. I always feel badly saying something critical about a book as I know how much work it takes to write and how difficult it can ... - rebeccar
"The Lovebird is a compassionate and inviting novel about loneliness and heartbreak, finding a place to belong, and what we will do to protect the things we love. Brown evokes great emotion with her small and perfect details. The image of the lovebird—confused and lost—touched me to the core, and stayed with me long after I shut the book." - Jennifer Close, bestselling author of Girls in White Dresses
"Natalie Brown has written a sly and quietly funny novel of a young woman's coming of age. Her unusual heroine, Margie Fitzgerald, is a passionate innocent, a dreamer blessed with loopy confidence, charming directness, and a very American logic all her own." - Honor Moore, author of The Bishop's Daughter
"The Lovebird asks us what it means to love, to belong, to believe. It's a book about new vision, second chances, and one young woman's desire to find her place among her human - and animal - kin." - Kim Barnes, author of In the Kingdom of Men
This information about The Lovebird was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Margaret Stratton
A lifelong artist whose medium is words, Natalie Brown has over 18 years of professional copy-writing experience, as well as Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English. She is a Random House-published novelist and a longtime university writing professor. Her work embodies a captivating synthesis of sparkling, outside-the-box creativity and refined, grammatical perfection. Fast, imaginative, and flexible, Natalie tailors her talents to suit a diverse array of clients, composing copy that informs, inspires, and evokes positive results.
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To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child
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