Colorful, exotic birds enrapture the protagonists of this lyrical early 20th-century love story about the life of bird lover, artist and mapmaker Diego Clemente. As soon as Diego, the adoptive son of a Spanish bookseller, first comes across John James Audubon's hand-colored Birds of America
, he is smitten with ornithology. When the opportunity to travel to the Yucatán to work with American scientist and author Edward Nelson presents itself, Diego promptly signs up and, once in Mexico, falls in love with his free-spirited, bird-enthusiast female counterpart, Sophia Duarte. Despite Sophia's meddlesome relatives and bumbling would-be suitor, Sophia and Diego bond. With revolutionary rumblings in the background, things come to a tense head when a workers' uprising threatens two of the world's only remaining passenger pigeons, which are being held by a greedy local plantation owner. The book comes to a tragic close that still manages to hold out a glimmer of hope. Rich descriptions of Seville and Mexico aid in creating a believable tale of romance and revolution. (Aug.)
