Title: Hummingbird Lane
Author: Carolyn Brown
Published on: 6 April 2021
Genre: Women’s Fiction | Chick-lit
Ever since childhood, Emma Merrill and Sophia Mason were bound by a passion for painting. When Emma was twelve, Sophia and her mother had to leave. Sophia’s mother, Rebel, worked as a cleaning lady at Emma’s house. Victoria, Emma’s mother, accused Rebel of having an affair with her husband and fired her.
Two decades later, Emma is at a rehab center. After multiple therapy sessions for years, Emma still feels depressed and has lost hope in everything. Sophia learns of Emma’s recent admission to the rehab center and goes to her rescue. The girls spend a couple of weeks at the trailer park, make friends and rediscover what it means to love and be truly loved.
Love will put you face-to-face with endless obstacles. It will ask you to reveal the parts of yourself you tirelessly work at hiding. It will ask you to find compassion for yourself and receive what it is you are convinced you are not worthy of. Love will always demand more. Surrender to being seen and being loved. Surrender to the beauty of revealing yourself to yourself, and to the ones who saw you before you saw you.
Hummingbird Lane is a very emotional journey of two people bound by a passion for painting. The whole story revolves around the theme of art. At the trailer park, Emma meets Sophia’s friends (and permanent residents of the trailer park) Art, Filly and Josh. Josh owns the place and is an artist too. Like Emma, Josh is trying to face his fears. He’s socially awkward (or so he was told), dislikes crowded and noisy places and isn’t good at striking up a conversation. Emma’s mother is toxic and overly controls Emma’s life. The poor thing has been manipulated to believe she’s weak and cannot survive without her mother’s “kindly” help.
Hummingbird Lane is not meant for light reading. If you are feeling overly emotional or low, this story can take you either ways – Emma’s past can put you in a low mood while the ending gives you hope that nothing is permanent, especially not the bad times. The story explores the psychological aspect of a troubled childhood. When children are taught to live in fear and lose hope in themselves, how can they grow to be a strong and confident adult?
The second half gets a little overly dramatic. At times, it got way too emotional for my liking. Having said that, Hummingbird Lane touches the reader’s soul. This is a thought-provoking story of how a controlled upbringing and dysfunctional family life affects a child’s growth.
Though the ending seemed a tad hurried up, I liked it. Emma and Sophie finally get closure where due. Hummingbird Lane by Carolyn Brown is a heart-warming and touching story of how friendship, love and art heals a troubled past.
The Book Decoder 
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