And the Birds Rained Down

By Jocelyne Saucier

A CBC Canada Reads 2015 Selection

Finalist for the 2013 Governor General's Literary Award for French-to-English Translation

Deep in a Northern Ontario forest live Tom and Charlie, two octogenarians determined to live out the rest of their lives on their own terms: free of all ties and responsibilities, their only connection to civilization two pot farmers who bring them whatever they can't eke out for themselves. But their solitude is disrupted by the arrival of two women. The first is a photographer searching for survivors of a series of catastrophic fires nearly a century earlier; the second is an elderly escapee from a psychiatric institution. The little hideaway in the woods will never be the same. Originally published in French, And the Birds Rained Down, the recipient of several prestigious prizes, including the Prix de Cinq Continents de la Francophonie, is a haunting meditation on aging and self-determination.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Coach House Books
• Release date: Oct 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781770563322

Jocelyne Saucier

Jocelyne Saucier was born in New Brunswick and lives in Abitibi, Québec. Two of her previous novels, La vie comme une image (House of Sighs) and Jeanne sur les routes (Jeanne’s Road) were finalists for the Governor General’s Award. Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down) garnered her the Prix des Cinq continents de la Francophonie, making her the first Canadian to win the award. The book was a CBC Canada Reads Selection in 2015.

Book preview

Reviews for And the Birds Rained Down

[pgchuis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this for book club.It was beautifully written and excellently translated, almost like a very long poem. In some ways I liked it, and it certainly drew you into the hidden lives in the forest. On the other hand it was claustrophobic, and I'm not sure how romantic I feel it is to live off grid from the enormous profits of an illegal grow-op.I didn't learn as much as I had hoped about the great fires either!

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am not sure how to describe this book. It is short, told from the point of view of "The Photographer" but she is not there in all the sections and as another reviewer said, could very easily be done on the stage. This book was originally written in French and the setting is Northern Ontario. The main characters are older for the most part except for The photographer, and the two pot growers.

Charlie, Tom and Ted are living alone in a camp hidden away in Northern Ontario. They collect their Pension Cheques from one of the pot growers who use the forest to hide their elicit crop. Ted has recently died. Along comes the photographer to interview Ted and take his picture as a survivor of one of the worst fires in Ontario history only to find out she is two weeks late. She ends up visiting and living there off and on. When Tom finds out about his aunt who has been living in a institution since she was 16, he ends up bringing her to join them. The motto of the men is "Freedom is being able to choose your life." "And your death." This story is their life together as well as the story of "Theodore Boychuk (Ted) and his life during and after the fire.

There are several difficult subjects - aging and the right to determine or control one's own death; living with mental health challenges; an historic tragedy and its aftermath; love & family; living one's own life and they are well presented. A great little book.

[jannes_16 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A deceptively simple story about escape, second chances, regret and death. A small but well-realized cast of characters comes together in the Canadian woods and lives there together for a while. Hard to describe without getting long-winded, but it's better than it sounds.

[firewild · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of those Canadian gems, that you never plan on reading, but love them when you do. Fresh and neat, although a touch naive. Loved most characters except for photographer, who seemed to be an extra baggage, subtracting, rather than adding to the story.

[ldvoorberg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A few old people, death, life, society, freedom, history of a Great Fire, love, burdens, sanity and insanity -- all themes in this poetic and straightforward novella. It made me yearn for life in the forest.

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A photojournalist is tracking down people whom survived the terrifying fires in Northern Ontario at the turn of the century.. When talking to people she hears about this young man who seemed to be many places at once, helping people, saving a few and standing in the water with a bunch of flowers. They called him Boychuck and she wants to find him.She finds him living in the woods with two other men, each living in their own cabin and living life on their own terms. They are each there for different reason and her visits and the unanticipated arrival of another older lady, another escapee from the life she was living, will change things for all. Two pot growers are the only connection they have to the outside world.This quiet novel, the endearing characters and the beautiful descriptions of the natural setting, made this a wonderful novel.There is more to the story, in such a small book, it covers quite a bit and all of it is written in a heartfelt manner. The story is quite poignant and the ending was unexpected, but seemed fitting.

[loogawa · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An entertaining read, that made me feel sort of melancholy and joyful at the same time. Really makes you reflect on life and death, but sort of wondering what the point of the book was at the end.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another book that I would not have read if not for Canada Reads. Even when I don't like the selections (as in When Everything Seems Like the Movies from this year) I have to admit that Canada Reads gets people reading Canadian books. This is one gem that I am glad got forced on my consciousness.A photographer is searching for people that survived the Great Fires that raged through Northern Ontario in the early part of the 20th century. Almost everyone she has talked to has mentioned Ted (or Ed or Edward) Boychuk who survived the Great Matheson Fire of 1916 and wandered around, half-blind, for days after. She has finally tracked him down to a small gathering of old men only to find out that he had died recently. She talks to the two remaining men but only learns that Ted very seldom talked and never about the fire. Seems like she has hit a dead end but when she returns to the small community with pictures that she took of one of the dogs she finds that a woman has been ensconced. The woman, Marie-Desneiges, spent all of her adult years in mental health institutions and none of her family visited her. In fact, it was only on the death of her brother that her existence became known to other family members. Her nephew decided to spirit her away to this small community rather than return her to the institution. The nephew was familiar with the men living there because he had a marijauna plantation near their cabins. Although Marie-Desneiges spent all that time in institutions she seems fairly normal. However, she can see things that others can't and when she sees the paintings that Boychuk left behind she immediately understands the story they are telling. The photographer decides to mount an exhibition of Boychuk's paintings and her pictures of the survivors. For such a slim book (only about 150 pages) there is a lot packed into it and I found I was reading slowly so as to enjoy the storylines. Enjoy the historical details while watching a love story develop. Once you are done you will have a lot to ponder about old age and modern healthcare and drug use and art and so much more.

[oriemg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I first read the back cover, all I could think about was WTH is an octogenarian? Once I learned that it was a person aged 80-89, my life was able to continue...There were three themes/aspects of this book that I quite enjoyed: mystery, history and freedom of choice. Trying to figure out Boychuck's past life was like piecing together a puzzle without knowing what the finished product was supposed to look like. The photographer, who is snooping around Tom and Charlie's hidden community, reveals that she is photographing those who were impacted by a slew of wildfires that plagued Northern Ontario. She is specifically interested in finding Boychuck because he has become somewhat of a myth connected to the The Great Matheson fire in 1916. She is greeted with unfortunate news in her first interaction with Charlie.The freedom to choose how to live and when to die, despite your age, is another theme that is very evident throughout the story. Tom, Charlie and eventually Marie-Desneige abandon their past lives to form their own community by the lake. Their secret is kept safe by a few of their trusted friends. The story also leaves room for a bit of love and romance, but you'll have to pick up the book and read about it for yourself. There are too many spoilers to be had if I were to elaborate.

[lindsay_w_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Death is ever present in this novel, but it is love that carries the story. Three octogenarian men are living the final chapter of their lives in the northern Ontario woods, bolstered by their stash of “salt” that gives them the freedom to live or die on their own terms.Their lives are disrupted when two women arrive. One is a middle-aged photographer on a quest to meet the man who famously survived the devastating bush fires of 1916. The other woman, having been locked in an institution for most of her life is now having her first act and discovering her gift for seeing things others don’t. Together they uncover the story of what happened “when the birds rained down.” I might never have discovered this gem had it not been nominated for CBC’s Canada Reads 2015 as the one book all Canadians should read that can change perspectives, challenge stereotypes and illuminate issues.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow! Beautifully written! This book explores themes of love, friendship, the right to choose how to live and when to die -- all in a short novel with strong characters. Absolutely wonderful.

[fiverivers_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

And the Birds Rained Down is a delicate, introspective fiction of a photographer's journey to chronicle the great bush-fires that consumed so much of Ontario's north during the early part of the 20th century. In doing so, she (the photographer) uncovers the story of a boy who walked through six days of inferno to find the twin girls he loved.The simplicity of the story, however, is belied by the complexity of the lives of the people who had been involved, now either dead or advanced in age, some of whom have retreated from society and live in isolation around a lake, each with a pact with death, to control their destiny with dignity and independence. It is also a story of love found in the last act, of love never found, of love acted out through creative expression that ends up a legacy.Beautifully and skilfully written, the story evokes emotion with a subtle hand. Highly recommended.