Trail of Broken Wings

By: Sejal Badani

Narrated by: Karen Peakes

Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's Summary

When her father falls into a coma, Indian American photographer Sonya reluctantly returns to the family she'd fled years before. Since she left home, Sonya has lived on the run, free of any ties, while her soft-spoken sister, Trisha, has created a perfect suburban life, and her ambitious sister, Marin, has built her own successful career. But as these women come together, their various methods of coping with a terrifying history can no longer hold their memories at bay.

Buried secrets rise to the surface as their father - the victim of humiliating racism and perpetrator of horrible violence - remains unconscious. As his condition worsens, the daughters and their mother wrestle with private hopes for his survival or death, as well as their own demons and buried secrets.

Told with forceful honesty, Trail of Broken Wings reveals the burden of shame and secrets, the toxicity of cruelty and aggression, and the exquisite, liberating power of speaking and owning truth.

©2015 Sejal Badani (P)2014 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What a powerful story!

Beautifully read/ performed. Powerful book. Not for readers under 17; needs a mature mind to grasp all the nuances of abuse and its far reaching effects. Wonderful book, often kept me awake til wee hours off the morning while listening.

16 of 17 people found this review helpful

Just Annoying

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

i did not enjoy this book at all. Seemed like a Harlequin romance. "I miss him, but he's not mine to miss". He said to me, "I miss you". I replied, "But I'm not yours to miss". So annoying!

What could Sejal Badani have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

It was too long with many unlikable characters.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I liked her voice. Her accent fit the story perfectly.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Annoyance at the cliche relationships and the repetitiveness of phrases. I found the actions of many characters to be quite unbelievable.

Any additional comments?

I cannot recommend this book to anyone other than those who love a cheesy romance.

52 of 59 people found this review helpful

Compelling story

Stay with this story; it is worth it!
The story starts of a bit slow, but rewards its readers with a compelling, complex story that I will be thinking about for a long while.

21 of 24 people found this review helpful

Interesting concept falls short

What did you like best about Trail of Broken Wings? What did you like least?

The topic/concept was interesting, but the writing was trite and juvenile.

What did you like best about this story?

The book explored the topic of domestic abuse in a way I hadn't seen it handled before. Each person in the family was affected deeply, yet differently, by the abuse. Each had coped in a unique way, and the manifestation of their past pain was shown by each in a her own way.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Karen Peakes?

Probably not...I really disliked some of her characterizations.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Maybe.

14 of 17 people found this review helpful

Remarkable Story of Family-Bridges all Cultures

While it took two "starts" for me to get into this book, it has been a profoundly moving story of how evils within a family can affect everyone, even those in the next generation. The narration is understated, but as it became more familiar, seemed perfect for the topic, setting and issues the story tackles.

Families sometimes harbor dark secrets and when they do, they become as if they are infected with a fatal disease. Once those secrets begin to see light, there may be much pain, but healing, understanding and a hopeful future can emerge.

This is a truly good story. Not every family will experience the same ending as the one within this story, but if not, understanding how important it is to eliminate the hold secrets may be enough.

20 of 25 people found this review helpful

Had promise but...

Story got too wordy. Narrator used funny voices. Very hard to listen to audio bc told from many points of view. Would've been better off reading the book, however I still think I would've had to skim a lot of parts. A very good story but way too many words. Became repetitive.

14 of 18 people found this review helpful

Recommend to others

I really enjoyed the tone of the narrator as she told the story. This was a great book and hearing it as an audiobook really enhanced the story. I felt like I was part of the story and found myself immersed in their pain and struggles as if I were part of the story. The narrator really grasped the essence of the characters and the story. She told the story in a way that felt like I was reading the actual book. I would recommend this book and the audiobook to others. I am looking forward to hearing another audiobook by this author and narrator.

14 of 19 people found this review helpful

Absolutely Fantastic!

Gripping story had me gasping at every turn! Loved so much! Perfect reader for this story!

11 of 15 people found this review helpful

Loved this book

This is one of those books that will stay with me for a long time. It was so well written and the narration was outstanding.

17 of 24 people found this review helpful

Disturbing, you may wonder whether to finish...

They have each spent their lives burying the shame of being beaten by their father, scarred deeply with the thoughts of never being good enough. The three daughters are now reunited and hilarity ensues - NOT!

The content matter of this book is very disturbing. As the abuse happens you wonder why it can't be stopped and why you should continue to read or listen to it. Is there any hope of recovering or of any justice?

Read the book and judge for yourself. The Audible version is superbly performed.

12 of 17 people found this review helpful

Loved this

I loved everything about this book and I loved the narration. This will be my next book club recommendation.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

🌼🌻🌼🌻🌼🌻🌼🌻🌼🌻🌼🌻☺

Loved it. This was my first audio book. It was read so beautifully. Can't wait to start my next.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Brilliant!

Would you listen to Trail of Broken Wings again? Why?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story was told from in turns by each of the daughter's and the mother. Each character had a different story/experience to tell and each were affected differently.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Trail of Broken Wings?

The characters and the storyline. The story never lost pace and you just wanted to keep on listening. The storyline was excellent and thought provoking.

What does Karen Peakes bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She bought the characters to life, each character was subtely different in the way that they spoke. Karen put emotion into the voices which had an impact on the story, more so than if reading the story from the book.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Review

I liked this book, it was cleverly written weaving the stories of the sisters, mother and grand daughter around the perpetrator whilst he lay in a coma. I particularly liked the out come for each which was realistically
positive without being too romantic. The reader was good but with so many points of view it might have been better to have had separate voices.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Excellent read

pulls no punches ..a story of abuse told without heaviness which makes it easy to digest...some really interesting takes on the wider effects of this subject. As usual Karen Peakes makes the experience the best it can be.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

We don’t choose our families, or our childhood,

"but we choose our future.”
Sejal Badani, Trail of Broken Wings

I started this book twice, the first time I got entangled on the sisters problems and could not continue, I felt frustrated by them, so I stopped and started again, there had to be a reason this women had all this differences, while appearing to be so successful, then the quiet man dying in the hospital became more evident, more central, more destructive, and the mother of the story became less of a shadow with the passing of every page. A story about sisters became a tale of survival of the destructive force of abuse; at times it was hard to read not because of violence but because of the consequences of that violence, but as you move forward in the story you see the hope, a kind of redemption growing.

“Energy doesn’t stand still; it moves, shifts with time. I think maybe we are meant to do the same, to see the world not as we fear it is but as we hope for it to be—kinder, gentler, each lesson not meant to destroy but to enable.”
― Sejal Badani, Trail of Broken Wings

This is a beautiful, difficult book that is full of surprises, an uplifting book that drags you very low to lift you into the arms of reconciliation and healing, yet it is never melodramatic or manipulative, the plot line is unexpected as are the characters and their secrets.

“I imagine another falling star, but this time I don’t make a wish. Instead I smile, understanding that even though not every story ends with a happy ending or begins with tragedy, along the way there are moments of both. And those moments don’t define you or even break you—they are simply parts of the whole.”
― Sejal Badani, Trail of Broken Wings

As my brother said to me about the movie Brooklin, “it is girly but really good” that is exactly how it feels to read this book, and because of that it is universal.

“The past, no matter how definite, does not have the power to determine the future.”
Sejal Badani, Trail of Broken Wings

7 of 11 people found this review helpful

Beautifully written and narrated

An insightful exploration of the devastating impact of childhood abuse on every family member. This exquisitely narrated story held my attention from from the first to last page. Really credible characters, each responding to events in different ways but essentially broken by their relationship with their father. Finally a redemptive story about the power of love.