Plumage

**In this feminist-inspired fantasy, a rejected wife starts seeing birds everywhere, including the sleek, cobalt-blue parakeet staring back at her in the mirror **

After being dumped by her husband of twenty-seven years, losing her house, and selling her jewelry at auction, Sassafras “Sassy” Hummel takes the only job she’s qualified for: maid at a luxury hotel. As if her life weren’t surreal enough, a bird poops on her head while she’s cleaning a suite. But Sassy’s sure she’s really gone off the deep end when, instead of her reflection in the mirror, a tiny blue parakeet stares back at her. Now she’s seeing birds everywhere: cranes, crows, hornbills, a quacking, green-headed duck, a quail, and something red and blue that bobs as it flies past. Sassy’s only friend is Racquel, the owner of Plumage*, *the hotel’s upscale boutique. Racquel isn’t the preening, froufrou, silk-and-sequins-enamored lady she seems to be. Soon Sassy and Racquel are traveling into an uncharted land where Sassy just might find out who she is and what she really wants.

*Plumage* is a wise, witty, and poignant novel about a woman whose life is for the birds . . . until she discovers her wings, and her world takes flight.

“Springer has redefined the concept of ‘knight in shining armor.’ With a touch of Alice Hoffmanesque magic, a colorfully painted avian world and a winning heroine, this is pure fun.” —*Publishers Weekly*

“A writer’s writer, an extraordinarily gifted craftsman.” —Jennifer Roberson

“Irresistible . . . charming, eccentric . . . thoughtful and significant.” —*Kirkus Reviews*

“Nancy Springer writes like a dream.” —*St. Louis Post-Dispatch*