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The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

In 1975, three thousand children were airlifted out of Saigon to be adopted into Western homes. When Mindy, one of those children, announces her plans to return to Vietnam to find her birth mother, her loving adopted family is suddenly thrown back to the events surrounding her unconventional arrival in their lives.

Though her father supports Mindy’s desire to meet her family of origin, he struggles privately with an unsettling fear that he’ll lose the daughter he’s poured his heart into. Mindy’s mother undergoes the emotional rollercoaster inherent in the adoption of a child from a war-torn country, discovering the joy hidden amid the difficulties. And Mindy’s sister helps her sort through relics that whisper of the effect the trauma of war has had on their family–but also speak of the beauty of overcoming.

Told through three strong voices in three compelling timelines, The Nature of Small Birds is a hopeful story that explores the meaning of family far beyond genetic code.

Purchase your copy of The Nature of Small Birds

Susie Finkbeiner
Susie Finkbeiner is the CBA bestselling author of All Manner of Things, which was selected as a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, and Stories That Bind Us, as well as A Cup of Dust, A Trail of Crumbs, and A Song of Home.

Her latest novel The Nature of Small Birds released in July, 2021.

She serves on the Fiction Readers Summit planning committee, volunteers her time at Ada Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and speaks at retreats and women’s events across the country. Susie and her husband have three children and live in West Michigan.

Find her at Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Transcript

Welcome to Christian Historical Fiction Talk. If it’s happening in the world of Christian historical fiction, you know were talking about it right here. I am so excited to get to today’s guest, but before we do, you want to be sure to check out Christian Historical Fiction Talk on social media. We are on Facebook, Twitter ,and Instagram. So check us out over there. I am going to be posting a question over there pretty soon. So, get in on the action and some of your answers may end up being on a future show. You’ll also be notified that way of when we have a new episode coming out. It’s just about every week. 

Also, if you’re not subscribed on your favorite podcasting platform, be sure that you do so, especially those of you who are new here. Welcome. We’re so glad to have you with us, its a great pleasure. To introduce you to these amazing authorization to the world of Christian historical fiction. So make sure that you join us so that you don’t miss any of the fabulous authors that we have coming up, and we have some terrific ones lined up. 

If you would like to learn more about today’s guest or about her book or if you’d like to find a link to the book that we talked about, then please head over to my website which is simply Liztolsma.com. Couldn’t be any easier. And right there you will find information about the podcast. You’ll find all the details about today’s show, and there will even be a transcript of the show there. So be sure to check out liztolsma.com. 

I think that takes care of all of the preliminary stuff, and so we can jump right in to today’s guest. She is a story junkie. She always has been and always will be. After decades of reading everything she could get her hands on, she realized that she wanted to write stories of her own. After Decades of work, she realized that she was a novelist. And so, in order to learn how to write novels, she read eclectically and adventurously. After reading the work of Lis, Sampson, Patty Hill, and Body Grove, she realized there was room for a writer like her in Christian fiction. 

Shen she read Into the Free by Julie Cantrell, she knew she wanted to write historical stories with a side of spunk grit and vulnerability. Her first historical novel released in 2015, and it was a best-seller. Now, she is out with a brand-new book called The Nature of Small Birds. It is an amazing story. I absolutely loved this book, and I think he will too. So please help me in welcoming to today’s show, Susie Finkbeiner.

Susie: Thank you so much for inviting me. 

Liz: I’m so excited to talk to you too, because this book deals with a subject that’s very near and dear to my heart. But before we get into all of that, why don’t you go ahead and just introduce yourself to the listeners? 

Susie: I live in West Michigan. And I am a most-of-the-time housewife, stay at home mom who gets to write at home. And I just, really, I feel so privileged to be able to do this work and to write stories and for people to read them. Like, how magical. 

Liz: Isn’t that the coolest? That people read your books? That’s just such a weird sensation. 

Susie: Sometimes it is. It’s the greatest and I just have so much appreciation for readers and so anytime I can connect with them in a podcast or meeting them at a book event, I am just so excited. 

Liz: Your new book is The Nature of Small Birds, which first of all, I love the title. Can you tell us a little bit where the title came from? 

Susie: Well, you know, I am really bad at coming up with titles, and so I’m so grateful that the publisher does that job for me, and they knew from the very beginning that this book would have a strong metaphor of birds. And so when they told me, we’re thinking that we might call this book The Nature of Small Birds, I, of course cried, because perfect. And I was so excited and glad that they have that job because they’re so much better at it than I am. And it just, it’s not a spoiler to say, the nature of small birds is to fly its, to leave the nest, to travel, to experience the world, but it is the nature of God to see and to all of that. 

Liz: That’s wonderful and so beautiful. Thank you. Just a little bit more about the book. What is it about? 

Susie: Well, it is a story of adoption, specifically an adoption that would have happened in 1975 at the tail end of the United States’ involvement in Vietnam. And that time, 3,000 children were airlifted from Vietnam to be adopted into western homes in America, Canada, and Australia. And this is the story of one of the families that adopted a little girl named Minh, who is also called Mindy in the book. 

When I started writing this story, I had it all set in 1975 and then realized that that’s just part of the story. That the story of adoption is a lifetime, and I wanted to represent that. And so it’s set in 75, 1988, and 2013. 

Liz: Why these three different timelines. And each timeline has a different viewpoint characters. Like 1975 has Linda, who is the mom, and 1988 has Sunny, who is the older sister, and 2013 has Bruce, who’s the father. Why did you choose to tell the story of that way? 

Susie: Well I suppose those timelines because, I mean, 1975 is kind of a given, 1988 because then Minh and sunny were teenagers, and I think that there’s so much formation that happens in our teen years, and I wanted to represent that search for identity, not just as a teenage girl in the 80s but also as a teen girl who is trying to reconcile who she is and the life that she had before she was put on an airplane and brought thousands of miles to a different family. And I just remember being 16, 17 years old, and having so much internal stuff going on. So I wanted to tap into that time of her life, and then 2013, because we had the internet and that made people more capable of reconnecting with birth families, that were in a nation that was so, so far away geographically. 

Liz: Is there a reason why you didn’t tell any of the story through Mindy’s voice? So it’s her parents and her sister. But Mindy isn’t a POV character, a point-of-view character, in this book. Is there a reason why you did that?

Susie: There actually a few different reasons. First of all, I didn’t want to appropriate the experience that she would have had. I don’t have the same background as she would have had, and I didn’t want to be insensitive to someone who has had that experience and make assumptions by speaking for them. But as a person, I have observed friends who have been adopted from different countries, friends who have been adopted trans-racially as well as friends who have adopted from other countries and trans-racially. So I’ve heard from their experiences, and I wanted Minh to be the central character and have her story told through the eyes of people that loved her dearly.

Liz: Will there be a sequel to this book so that we get to see Mindy’s journey to Vietnam?

Susie: Oh boy, that’s a good question. That I would probably need to talk to my editor about. Originally, I hadn’t. I really wanted the reader to kind of have that anticipation as I have the chance to imagine what would happen and maybe seek out stories of other people who have been able to travel back to their country of origin and to meet their biological family. And if the Lord gives me an opportunity to write a sequel, I would definitely do it. 

Liz: Would you go to Vietnam to research that book? 

Susie: You know what? I would not be angry about a trip like that. Research trips would be so much fun, especially post-Covid. I am looking forward to just that kind of thing. But yes, I would to write something like that. It would be amiss if I did not do research in the country and get more of a feel for things and taste the food, and I’ve heard it is like Crazy hot. 

Liz: So yes, we were there almost exactly twenty-six years ago now. And, oh my goodness. I stepped off the plane and it was like somebody had thrown a hot blanket, a wet blanket, over me. We were there in the end of July till mid-August. So the hottest part. And monsoon season. That was the worst part of the trip. 

The people there are absolutely wonderful and welcoming, and they will open their arms to Americans. It’s a very young country, so many of them don’t even remember the war and don’t harbor any bitterness toward Americans. We were just treated like we were kings and queens when were there. So it was amazing. 

Susie: My dad is a Vietnam War veteran, and he had the opportunity and the absolute privilege and joy of working with people from South Vietnam and getting to know them. They taught him some of their language. He taught them, some of his, and the stories were just filled with humor and so much family orientation, and they really absorbed these really boys, these GI’s were boys, and they kind of took them under their wings. And that is something that when I was researching for this book, just the focus and the extreme, the extreme, focus on family and taking care of each other that I just thought, we could really learn some lessons here. We could really do this better. I was very inspired by how family-centric the culture is in Vietnam for sure. 

Susie: What did you learn in your research about Operation BGabylift?

Susie: Oh, you know, I have the fortune of being an author who writes in times when there’s TV. I was able to find a lot of news coverage on YouTube, a lot of documentaries, and a lot of interviews with people who were involved in all kinds of different aspects of it as well as books and newspaper articles. And you know, what I learned was that a lot of people don’t know  about Operation Babylift. And then I also learned just about how complicated it was. I think often we just think of adoption as you adopt a child and then they become part of your family and there’s so much more to it. There is the emotional ties that are all through adoption. They’re so complicated, they’re so nuanced. So there’s the emotional, there’s the logistical, just the amount of paperwork that goes into it. 

Just the spiritual aspect of it. And I think that one of the things that touched my heart the most was reading about people who have been adopted are now adults. And this isn’t just from this Operation Babylift. It’s from adoption of all times. But these now grown-up people who desire so deeply to find out who their biological parents were and families and make a connection. But that they feel guilty about it because they also want to honor the people who raised them and who are their parents and are their family, and the complexity of that situation. 

But I’ve been so heartened when I’ve read the accounts of adoptive families who, they save up money to make it possible. They go on trips across the world to meet with biological parents too and has just been so helpful to learn about these families who are just doing what family does, and it’s just so great. 

Liz: That’s the family that you portray in The Nature of Small Birds, isn’t it? Cause we see Mindy struggling with this conflict of wanting to find out her roots and where she came from. And at the same time, like you said, honoring the people that raised her, and we see the thoughts of her adoptive parents as they process all of this as well. 

Susie: You know, there were some, some adoptive families that refused, you know, they didn’t want that. They didn’t want to go backwards as a few of them sai,d or they just weren’t very supportive. But the majority of the stories I read,and I heard through interviews were these families that were just, “I will do whatever it takes to support my child.” And that’s just, it’s so beautiful. It really is so beautiful. 

Liz: That’s something we always told our children, that when they got old enough, if they had the desire to go back and to try to find their birth family, we would do whatever it took to support them. So I find it very, I guess every family is different and every person is different. Every adoptive parent is different, but to deny your child that, I think would be very hard to do. They need that to complete who they are that. I think it’s really important. I’m speaking as an adoptive mom here. Hope I’m not getting controversial or anything, but I just feel that’s important isn’t it? 

Susie: A picture of the kingdom of God. Do you know what? Just, we are family. Like, it’s not just, my family was all in my house. It’s the family that is implanted in our hearts when we love God and want to honor him. And this, I do believe, I understand because he is a God of reconciliation and reunification. He’s a God that wants us to be united. And I think that this kind of thing is a picture of that, is an example of its reflection of him. 

Liz: For sure. I just love how adoption here in this world reflects his adoption of us as his own children. Just a beautiful picture. 

Susie: Yeah. My pastor, Jeff Manion, often says of God, and this is what you do. We see this in adoption. He picked you out. He picked you up. He brought you home, and I think there is no more beautiful picture to me of God as father and parents than that.

Liz: Very well said. I love that. Picked you out. Picked you up. And brought you home. Beautiful, beautiful. Are there any characters in the book who are based on true life people? 

Susie: A lot of them. This was my quarantine book. So I was in my house, missing my friends, with my kids in the other room during virtual school and so, I did. I named some characters after my friends. So Bruce Matthews is an actual human being. He was a great person. And Sunny and her husband Mike and her daughters, they’re a family that are dear to my heart. And then Chris and Dana. So it has several characters, and it really was a way for me to function during the pandemic. When I was feeling lonely, I was like, well I get to go spend time with my friends, even if they’re the fictional version I like to incorporate. I know a lot of people, you know, they don’t like it, but I like to incorporate parts of my life because all of those people that I listed, they are readers of my books. And so it’s kind of like, well I want to honor you and have, you know, a little a little wink to you in there.

Liz:  And how do they feel about being part of your book?

Susie: They are so good about it, they’re really good sports. I always ask permission. I always make sure that they’re okay with it .and then my friend Bruce, he’s like everybody’s uncle, he’s that kind of guy, and he keeps checking in. “How’s it going with the book? How’s it going with my book?” You know, it’s just really, really fun. And it did help me during the dark days of being in my house. 

Liz: I love that. Great way to spend time with your friends. This is historical because it takes place in the past, but it’s not that far in the past. A lot of people remember 1975, 1988. And I have a feeling you’re a bit younger than I am because I actually remember—I’ll give away my age kind of a little bit—I do remember all three times. So I was married in 1988, and I do remember the end of the war. So was writing this book a blast from the past for you?

Liz: Well, I’ll tell you I was not yet alive in 75. I was born in 1978. So mathematicians have fun with that. But I do, you know so much of the seventies carried over into the 80s, like the music and I mean, we had National Geographics from the sixties in my basement, so I definitely looked at the National Graphics from way before I was born. So the seventies part I had to do a little bit of figuring things out, but I got to listen to a lot of great music like Fleetwood Mac. So I was okay with it. 

The 80s. That was the time. That was so familiar to me and so much fun to write, but my mom, she’s like, well, that’s not historical. Pretty contemporary. But it was, it’s so much fun to write. I like to call it close history, because there are, for me, there so many resources, and I can be driving in my car and hear Bennie and the Jets by Elton John, and I call that research. 

Liz: Love it. You mentioned just being like close history and your mom calling it contemporary and your first two books were contemporaries but then something pulled you into historical. What was it that did? 

Susie: It was Julie Cantrell, I will tell you. It was Julie, because when I started writing, I thought, I didn’t think I could write historical. I don’t know why, but I needed permission to. So silly to me that I felt that I needed permission, but when I read Into the Free, I thought I could do this, I could write historical. And so it was reading that book. That was a big turn in my career. 

And then I wrote a series of 1930s novels after that and became a super nerd for historical fiction. I love research in fact. And, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about when I say it is hard to stop researching, because there’s so much to learn and it’s so exciting to find these little tidbits. 

Liz: That’s exactly it ,and you are a very good company. I think every single author that we’ve had on this podcast, and we’ve been going for about a year now, every single one of them has mentioned that they are a history nerd. 

Susie: So I talk to Jocelyn Green every day, I mean like every day several times and, “Guess what I found out about the history,” and then we share it. And then you know, we nerd out a little bit, and it’s so much fun, and history is so important, and it’s something we can learn from. And there are so many parts of it that we just, you know, they can’t teach it all in history class, but it’s so exciting when you find something that is just bonkers, or… I could go on all day. 

Liz: Me too, me too. You say about writing that you couldn’t quit even if you wanted to. Why do you think that? 

Susie: Because I am a wretched, horrible, mean person when I’m not writing. I think the reason is because it feels like God made me this way. And even if the contracts stopped coming in, I’d still find a way to use it. Even if the novel ideas start drying up, you know there’s so much else you can do in writing, and I’ve been writing my whole life coming up with stories. My mom says that there are lies, but to me, they’re storie. But it’s me, it’s who I am. And also the times when I’ve said that I’m going to quit, my husband says, no you’re not. So I think that I need to listen to him. 

Liz: I think so too, cause we’d love more books along the lines of The Nature of Small Birds. 

Susie: Thank you so much. 

Liz: Can we expect something oming up? 

Susie: You know, I’m so excited. It is 1952, and it’s both the Red Scare and women’s baseball with a little Shakespeare thrown in for good measure, because why not? 

Liz: Of course, that sounds like so much fun. And when is that coming out?

Susie:  Next year sometime. So 2022. I don’t have the release date yet, but also I haven’t finished writing it yet. It’ll get there. 

Liz: But we will be keep our eyes open. So if people want to connect with you, get to know you, and be ready for that next release next year, where can they connect with you? 

Susie: Find me on Facebook at Author Susie Finkbeiner. Also if you like shenanigans and pictures of a kind of grumpy Calico, come find me on Instagram. Yeah those are probably the best places to find me, and you can always go to my website. And if you’re ever in the Grand Rapids area and head over to Baker Book House, let me know, and I will try and make my way over there and say hi 

Liz: That would be fabulous. Have to do that for sure. Do you have any last words for the listeners? 

Susie: I wanted to thank you all again. All the readers. You all are so encouraging to the writing community and you not only encourage us, you give us a purpose, because there would be no reason to write without you. So we are so thankful. I speak for a lot of us when I say thank you, especially for the encouragement this past year. 

Liz: Exactly. Wholeheartedly. But I just wanted to thank you so much for spending a piece of your day with us and sharing a little bit about The Nature of Small Birds. We really appreciate it. 

Susie: Thank you. I’ve been looking forward to this for a couple weeks now, so thank you for having you as well. 

Liz: Don’t you just hate it when interviews end. We could make these interviews be an hour or two or even longer. I know that that would turn a lot of you off because you don’t have so much time to sit and listen to all of that. So we try to keep it as listener friendly as we possibly can, but it’s so much fun to talk to these authors, to talk shop, to talk about things that connect us. And Susie was a great guest, and I would like to thank her for appearing this week. 

Remember that if you’d like to find out more about Susie or about The Nature of Small Birds or if you’d like to get a really handy link to purchase your own copy of The Nature of Small Birds, please visit my website, which is Liztolsma.com. All that information will be right there at your fingertips. So a very handy way to find out more about Susie and The Nature of Small Birds. 

Looking ahead to next week, we are going to go back to a topic. It’s been a little while since we’ve had a topical podcast. Every now and again we like to take a bit of a break and talk about what you like and what you are reading. So the topic that were going to be talking about is one that got postponed because of life happening around me, and that is your favorite Civil War novel. There’s so many of them out there and so many really, really great ones. A time that is a little bit overlooked these days. But there are still some out there and are still some that are releasing that are out there. So I’d like to know what you think your favorite Civil War novel is. To answer this question, please head over to Christian Historical Fiction Talk on social media. As I mentioned before, you can find it on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so whichever your favorite platform is, go over there and answer the question, what is your favorite Civil War novel? You may very well end up getting a mention on next week’s podcast, so please get your answers in as soon as possible so that I can put this all together, and we’ll have a great chat about Civil War novels on our next episode. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day, for supporting Christian Historical Fiction Talk, and for spreading the word about it. I do appreciate you. Have a great one, and we will see you next time.