142 Ostriches

January 27, 2020
In Davila’s vivid, uplifting debut, a free-spirited woman navigates her obligations to a dysfunctional family. Tallulah Jones, 24, works at her grandmother Helen’s ostrich ranch in the California desert while planning to follow her dream of joining the Forest Service in Montana. After Helen’s suspicious death in a car accident, estranged family members gather at her funeral, including meth-addicted Uncle Steve, who is furious that Helen left the ranch to Tallulah. With a buyer for the ranch, Tallulah looks forward to Montana, until Laura, the nomadic and alcoholic mother she hasn’t seen since she was 13, shows up wanting a share of Helen’s estate and threatens to contest the will. Tallulah finds comfort in caring for the ostriches, but then they mysteriously stop laying eggs. As Tallulah gets help with the animals from a sympathetic local while fighting the volatile Steve and riding out Laura’s demands, she reconsiders her future. Davila’s breezy, elegant prose captures the desert’s growing appeal to Tallulah (“Finally, the sun cleared the horizon and blasted everything with its full light”; “There wouldn’t be mornings like this in Montana”). The fascinating details of operating an ostrich ranch elevate this family tale. Agent: Joel Gotler and Murray Weiss, Intellectual Property Group.

Starred review from February 1, 2020
Did Grandma Helen die by suicide when her truck crossed the double yellow lines of Route 66? Tallulah Jones wonders as she struggles to deal with the 142 ostriches now in her sole care as inheritor of Helen's ranch in the Mojave Desert. Her plan: take a job in Montana and sell the ranch to a man who will process the ostriches for meat and leather. D�vila's beautifully executed debut novel may feature quirky 300-pound birds, but imperfect-yet-likable protagonist Tallulah's hardest problems come from her family, which includes a meth-addicted uncle, an alcoholic mother who has been gone for years, and an aunt pregnant with Tallulah's sixth female cousin. Navigating the aftermath of her grandmother's death is a defining, tumultuous time for Tallulah, which D�vila presents with empathy and insight. How do we make hard choices in the face of uncertainty? What drives behavior, particularly harmful behavior? Readers will be fascinated by the ostriches and the desert, both of which Tallulah believes she wants to escape. Tension mounts in every chapter, and when the difficult forces converge in the satisfying climax, Tallulah discovers clarity. This is an enjoyable, winning, interesting novel for readers of many backgrounds.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)