More Miracle than Bird

June 2, 2020
Tin House Books
A New York Times Book Review Summer Reading Selection
A Best Book of the Month at Amazon
Available in paperback and hardback from Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Powell’s, Hudson Booksellers, Amazon, and from Unity Books in New Zealand, Dussmann in Germany, AND your local bookstore.
On the eve of World War I, twenty-one-year-old Georgie Hyde-Lees meets with the acclaimed poet W. B. Yeats at a soirée in London. Although Yeats is famously eccentric and many years her senior, Georgie is drawn to him, and when he extends a cryptic invitation to a secret society, her life is forever changed.
A shadow falls over London as zeppelins stalk overhead and bombs bloom against the skyline. Amidst the chaos, Georgie finds purpose tending to injured soldiers in a makeshift hospital, befriending the wounded and heartbroken Lieutenant Pike, who might need more from her than she is able to give. At night with Yeats, she escapes these realities into an even darker world, becoming immersed in the Order, a clandestine society where ritual, magic, and the conjuring of spirits is practiced and pursued. As forces—both of this world and the next—pull Yeats and Georgie closer together and then apart again, Georgie uncovers a secret that threatens to undo it all.
In bright, commanding prose debut author Alice Miller illuminates the fascinating and unforgettable courtship of Georgie Hyde-Lees and W. B. Yeats. A sweeping tale of faith and love, lost and found and fought for, More Miracle than Bird ingeniously captures the moments—both large and small—on which the fate of whole lives and countries hinge.
360 pages
Hardcover
ISBN 978-1-947793-76-7
Praise for More Miracle than Bird
A New York Times Book Review Summer Reading Selection
A Best Book of the Month at Amazon
“Miller’s revelatory debut novel, written in crisp, elegant prose, focuses on Georgie Hyde-Lees, wife of Anglo Irish poet W. B. Yeats … Miller deftly presents a portrait of Georgie, a young woman calibrating her place in the world, and her shifting relationship with the man she adores.”
—Booklist
“Miller’s debut coolly appraises the poet while fully inhabiting the woman in his shadow.”
—Kirkus
“More Miracle Than Bird is an entertaining read and a fine portrait of another of history’s forgotten women.”
—Chicago Review of Books
“Historical fiction devotees will appreciate this sensitive character study wrapped in an atmospheric, moody rendering of WWI London.”
—Publishers Weekly
“The spell Miller casts with her first novel is mesmerizing.”
—Seattle Book Review
“A sweeping historical drama that provides a nuanced twist on the literary love story … More Miracle than Bird stands out as a pristine, thoughtful re-imagining of the personal lives of true literary greats.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Miller’s light approach moves the book along at a lively pace and convincingly evokes life in early twentieth-century London. 5/5.”
—Foreword Reviews
“A magical novel… Miller has made a wonderful novel out of the bizarre truth.”
—Historical Novels Review
“A work that held me by the bravura of its ambition.”
—Vincent O’Sullivan, Landfall Review Online
“A shimmering novel about our yearnings for forever, and the greatest mystery of life, which is, of course, love. It must be said: More Miracle than Bird is a bit of a miracle in itself.”
—Caroline Leavitt, New York Times Bestselling Author of Pictures of You
“Only a wildly gifted novelist could give us this terrific tale of Georgie Hyde-Lees and her some-time suitor, the much older poet W.B. Yeats. Written with superb emotional rightness.”
—Joan Silber, author of Improvement, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award
“In this rich and satisfying novel, Alice Miller proves herself to be a superb medium, summoning the mind and heart of Georgie Hyde-Lees and placing her at the center of a finely-tuned and riveting drama. More Miracle Than Bird is both a necessary corrective and a vivid portrait of a set of mercurial artists in a tumultuous time.”
—Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men
“An engrossing and impressive debut, More Miracle than Bird is a welcome addition to the canon of historical fiction that shines light on women whose legacies have been shadowed by their famed partners.”
—Lisa Gornick, author of The Peacock Feast
“More Miracle Than Bird will ring in my mind’s ear for a long time, and I will return to its pages. A wonderful book!”
—Jay Parini, author of The Last Station
“In her debut novel, More Miracle Than Bird, Alice Miller brilliantly animates a pivotal period of literary history in expansive scope and immersive detail. Miller illuminates the relationship of Georgie Hyde-Lees and W.B. Yeats by vividly reimagining them, making the past newly apprehensible and riveting.”
—Joanna Scott, author of Careers for Women
“A transporting, wrenching novel written in prose that dances across the page.”
—Keija Parssinen, author of The Unraveling of Mercy Louis
“Miller has written a luminous novel about the women involved with the early 20th century’s most notable men poets, offering a fresh portrayal of the women’s brilliant complexity. Miller is up to more than telling a story of these fascinating lives: More Miracle than Bird makes a sly and disturbing inquiry into how art truly gets made and to whom it belongs.”
—Katharine Dion, author of The Dependents
Even More Miracle
If you’re curious about the characters, there’s more here.