Skye is looking for normal. She grew up different and it rankles. Home isn't normal; her mom isn't normal. Her brother, beloved as he is, isn't quite normal, either. Her marriage was kind of normal (Cam is a wealthy, handsome man who's nice enough) and now it's a dumpster fire. And look at South Africa-entirely NOT normal.
She's got PTSD and she's in mourning. She doesn't know who she is or what she wants.
She tries to anchor herself to tangible things: to her cooking, to her neighbour's children, to sex. But as she relives her past and tries to plan her future, she feels increasingly dislocated. Skye escapes when things get overwhelming, and realises almost too late that she's about to make everything worse.

Michelle Edwards obtained a Bachelor of Journalism from Rhodes University in 2005. She has lived in Taiwan, the United Kingdom and Zambia, and is now living in South Africa with her husband and two children. Go Away Birds is her first novel, which was long-listed for the Dinaane Debut Fiction Award in 2018.