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1. How would you describe the narrative style of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender?

The novel is written from the first-person point of view of Ava Wilhelmina Lavender. Ava’s perspective has some omniscient qualities, as she views into the thoughts of her mother and grandmother, but generally, Ava relates the story of her life without a great deal of sentimental embellishment.

2. How does Ava describe her birth in the novel’s Prologue? When and where was Ava born?

Ava was born in Seattle on March 1, 1944. During her mother's pregnancy, the birds on Pinnacle Lane, where she lived, began acting strangely. After Ava's birth, the doctors took her to examine a "slight physical abnormality." Ava was born with wings.

3. How does the narrator introduce the character of Emilienne Roux in Chapter 1? When was Emilienne born?

Chapter 1 begins with a description of Ava's maternal grandmother, Emilienne Adou Solange Roux, who "fell in love three times before the eve of her nineteenth birthday." Born on March 1, 1904, Emilienne was the first of four children born on the same day in 1904, 1905, 1906, and 1907.

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