Midnight At The Blackbird Cafe

The plot of this novel hinges on an accident that happened twenty-five years before the story begins, which set off a chain of events that destroyed relationships and caused a young woman to grow up distant from her roots, and her extended family. The accident created grief and the burden of guilt that changed people and relationships, which altered the course of people’s lives.

Anna Kate’s mother, Eden, carries the burden of guilt around like a giant tree that bears fruit in Anna Kate’s struggles to allow people close to her, in her grief at the limitations put on her relationship with her grandmother, Zee, whom she adores, and in her understanding of her roots. Although Anna Kate loves Eden dearly, she knows Eden never gets over her grief at the loss of AJ, and she believes that Eden’s death was her mother’s broken heart finally giving up, once Anna Kate was old enough to take care of herself.

AJ’s mother, Seelie, carries her grief in the form of anger at Eden, which she nurtures like a rare plant. This plant also bears fruit in the next generation in the form of damage to the mother-daughter relationship between Seelie and Natalie and the way the town of Wicklow perceives Seelie. She does not acknowledge guilt for the wrongs she committed toward her son or Eden due to her prejudices over wealth and social status. AJ’s father is better at releasing his grief, and he picks up the pieces of Seelie and Natalie’s relationship, providing the love and support Natalie needs, which Seelie cannot freely show. Perhaps motivated by the guilt he feels due to his inability to heal the rift between the women in his life, Doc conceals his illness and tries his best to mend what he can, first when he invites Anna Kate to join their lives, and then when he nudges Natalie toward therapy, which breaks his usual pattern of enabling her and Seelie rather than challenging them.

The Lindens and the Callows are not the only ones impacted by AJ’s death. Aubin Pavegeau was in the car the day of the accident and is the only one who knows what happened. However, he ran from the car, afraid of losing his job. This has left Aubin with guilt for his part in Seelie’s continuous condemnation of Eden and for the secret Eden kept, as a result of Seelie’s treatment of her, about Anna Kate’s existence. Aubin believes the death of his wife in a similar accident years later was karmic retribution for his silence and he shrouds himself in his grief and guilt, until Anna Kate and his daughter, Summer, join forces to pull him out of it. Bow and Jena Barthelemy also carry the guilt of the accident for 25 years. It is suggested later in the book that Bow is the gray cat who chased a bird—Jena—in front of AJ’s car and caused the accident.

In the end, Anna Kate’s arrival in Wicklow offers a shift in the grief and guilt that has overwhelmed the people of this town. Not only does Anna Kate begin preparing the pies that allow the locals to connect with their deceased loved ones, but her existence brings forgiveness to the Linden family. At the same time, the Barthelemys, whose guilt at their role in the accident prompted them to remain in the town for 25 years as penance, reach the end of their atonement through their support of Anna Kate as she brings the Callow and Linden families together and allows Aubin to unburden himself from the guilt of his long-held secret.