I’m no ornithologist, but Joyce Hinnefeld’s debut novel sure had me intrigued by the mysterious, delicate nature of birds and their impact on the Kavanagh family. In Hovering Flight tells the story of Addie Sturmer Kavanagh, an activist and “bird artist” whose failing health has spurred her 34-year-old daughter, Scarlet, to come home. Hinnefeld uses this narrative hook to explore topics both obvious (family relations, illness and death) and unexpected (the delicate nature of our eco-systems and the importance of art) in a musical prose style that evokes the very birds she clearly covets. Hinnefeld — an associate professor of writing at Moravian College in Pennsylvania and the author of a previous short story collection, Tell Me Everything and Other Stories — discusses In Hovering Flight 7 p.m. Monday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. Free.
