When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice

By: Terry Tempest Williams

Narrated by: Terry Tempest Williams

Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

The beloved author of Refuge returns with a work that explodes and startles, illuminates and celebrates.

Terry Tempest Williams's mother told her: "I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won't look at them until after I'm gone."

Fans of Williams's iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother. She was a member of a large Mormon clan in northern Utah who developed cancer as a result of the nuclear testing in nearby Nevada. It was a shock to Williams to discover that her mother had kept journals. But not as much of a shock as what she found when the time came to read them.

They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful cloth-bound books.... "I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. It was empty. I opened the third. It too was empty.... Shelf after shelf after shelf, all of my mother's journals were blank."

What did Williams's mother mean by that? In 54 chapters that unfold like a series of yoga poses, each with its own logic and beauty, Williams creates a lyrical and caring meditation of the mystery of her mother's journals. When Women Were Birds is a kaleidoscope that keeps turning around the question "What does it mean to have a voice?"

©2012 Terry Tempest Williams (P)2012 Wind Over The Earth

Terry does it again

Would you consider the audio edition of When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice to be better than the print version?

Yes. Terry's voice and emotion moves you to tears at times. It feels as if she is speaking to you

What about Terry Tempest Williams’s performance did you like?

Her presence in itself. Her voice, her honestly, her pace,... Everything about the way she reads captures your heart and keeps you hostage until the end. Two days later I'm still under her spell in the best way possible.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I cried

Any additional comments?

Highly recommend it.

Touched My Soul

This is testament to being a wife, a daughter and a woman in an age where it was difficult to know which way to go. It is about experiencing the death of all the strong women in your family and not knowing how to reconcile that with your life. I bought the book for my mother for her 85th birthday. She will love it!

Audible has terrible sound quality!

What made the experience of listening to When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice the most enjoyable?

Terry's voice is wonderfull, soothing and moving.

Any additional comments?

But, it is hardly appreciable in audible format - no treble, not tone quality, and generally lousy sound! I felt this ten years ago a=when I cancelked my "membership", and since I am producing audiobook for Audible now, needed to check it out - but the sound is still awgull, lousy, and substandard.

Wonderful writing!

If you like first person narrative and enjoy autobiography, you'll love this book. It's articulate, thought provoking and beautifully written. I immediately listened to it again, and the second time I actually wrote down some of her beautiful imagery and insights. I highly recommend it. It would make an awesome book club selection.

Worth listening and re-listening

Beautiful, thoughtful, touching, and powerful. I’m circling back and listening to it again. Highly recommend.

Awesome book!

Would you consider the audio edition of When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice to be better than the print version?

I did not read the printed version - although I plan to. This is a book I want in my library - to have it handy to look at and refer to when I want to. There are so many passages that I want to remember - this book has impacted my life in ways that I'll be unpackaging for a long time.

What does Terry Tempest Williams bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Having an author read their own work is so wonderful - you feel the heart and passion as they read the words. It's like sitting across the kitchen table with a cup of tea and a good friend - a very wise friend.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I would have loved to listen to it in one sitting, but there is also joy in putting it down and delighting in the anticipation of beginning the story where you left off. I looked forward to getting back to the book. When the end of the story came, it felt like a perfect ending. I sighed and appreciated the heartfelt prose. But started looking for the next Terry Tempest Williams book to explore.

Amazing TTW

Powerful story, superbly read by the author. This woman's voice resonates in a time when women's voices are being listened to. TTW has much to say and much to contemplate, by both women and men.

I want to buy a copy for every woman I know. I want to buy a copy for every lover of words. This is poetry. This is a gift.

I own a hard copy, but it was such a pleasure to hear Terry read her own work through the Audible version that I would recommend listening to it before reading it.

A pure gift! I listened to the whole book in one day.

Breathy and soothing voice.

Inspired to write today. Oh and I've massaged you in Seattle many moons ago. You are an author and a soul I'll never forget.

To call this book superb would be an understatement

Beautifully written, beautifully read. A book every woman should read. Teri Tempest Williams celebrates womanhood in a most poetic memoir. Her words are breathtaking. I’m recommending this book to every woman in my life. I am also buying a hardcopy. When I finished listening to it the first time I quickly restarted for a second time. . I’m sure there will also be a third and a fourth.