THE CAGED BIRD SINGS

About the Book

World War II, 1940, in the Nazi-occupied city of Rouen, France: Despite Germany’s stranglehold on the French, Benjamin Cohen, an introverted but musically talented adolescent, defies his father to study the carillon in the Catholic cathedral, a huge instrument of fifty-five bells. Though impeded by the German threat and his perceived dismissal by family, his confidence grows with the help of his new “family” at the cathedral and his pet cockatiel, Frère Jacques. This coming-of-age epistolary novel tells of wartime dynamics between Catholic and Jewish, boy and girl, father and son, and two estranged brothers on their journeys through war, love, and tragedy. Can Benjamin’s mastery of the carillon and his love affair with the troubled nun-in-training, Marie-Noëlle, give him le courage he needs to perform the one act that can save his people from Nazi arrest and earn back his father’s respect? Or will it doom them all?

About the Author

JAMES CHANNING SHAW, doctor, writer, and musician, often considered his first language to be music. With an MD degree from Boston University School of Medicine, he eventually entered academic medicine, where he assumed leadership positions at the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto. He cared for patients, published numerous scientific articles and essays and received awards for his teaching while continuing his musical interests that centered around jazz piano and composition. In 2012 he published a memoir of his medical career, Room for Examination. His other titles include City of Destiny: Short Fiction, More or Less; and a literary collection, The Quotable Robertson Davies. Dr. Shaw is married and lives in Toronto, though half his time is spent in San Francisco near to children and young grandchildren. His website is jameschanningshaw.com.

CAL OREY, M.A., is a bestselling accomplished author-journalist and gifted storyteller. She has a master's degree in English from San Francisco State University. Her books include the hugely popular Healing Powers book series translated in more than two dozen languages. She has written more than 25 books (fiction and non-fiction), and has been featured in hundreds of national publications including Huffington Post and New York Daily. A native of California, Orey is a versatile novelist, and a Catholic. Visit her website at www.calorey.com.