A Red Bird Christmas | Holly Furtick Book Club

In 2018, I had this great idea to start a book club, mostly because I love books. I particularly love audiobooks, and I love forcing them on other people and then talking about them. And so I started this book club and I just put it out there on Instagram. I said, hey, read this book, and then let's come together and chat about it. And I wanted to share those. Those chats with you here on my YouTube channel. So I hope you enjoy this video. Tonight we are discussing Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg. I can't wait to hear if you like this book or how much you liked it. I want to know. Start off with, did you love the book? And who was your favorite character? So I'm going to go through a couple of the characters that I have written down here. So we have Oswald, who is pretty much our main character in the book. And he's the old man who's told at the beginning of the book by a doctor that he has severe emphysema and that he's dying. And if he stays in Chicago, where it's really cold, he's not going to make it to Christmas. And then. And you guys are going to have to forgive me if I get some of the parts of the story wrong, because I read this book like a year ago and I tried to freshen up on it today. I actually read the very end of the book over again, but. But a little rusty on some of the other parts. So we got Oswald. He's told that he's dying. If he stays in Chicago, he's not going to make it till Christmas. And so the. And he's really poor. He doesn't have any money. And the doctor tells him that he needs to move to the South. So he finds this brochure and he ends up in this tiny town called Lost River. And it's so sweet. This town only has like a hundred people in it. And there's a bunch of unmarried elderly ladies. And one of the ladies volunteers to let Oswald, like, rent a room in her house. And throughout the story, there come enters this little girl named Patsy. And somebody tell me, how old was Patsy? I don't remember. But so Patsy comes into the story and she's a little girl with a limp. And she's a little, little bit neglected, maybe a lot neglected, and doesn't come from a great family. And she starts. Patsy is five. Thank you, Jennifer. And so then we also have our character Francis, and she is the old lady who ends up. Okay, we're gonna have to do Spoiler alerts for this book. Emily says, who was the one that was afraid of the bird? I don't know, but I've got some other characters I'm going to name, and I. I think is it. Was it Betty that was afraid of the bird? So, okay, anyway, we got some people are saying she's six, five or six. Here comes Patsy. Francis is the one who ends up adopting Patsy. She's an old lady living by herself. Roy is the store owner of the general store. And then we have Jack the red bird, who is a great character. And one of the things that I read today was also that how, like the town itself, Lost river was kind of like a character, like all of the community together. Mildred. Everybody's saying Mildred was the one that was afraid of the bird. So this bird has been injured and Roy saved him, but he has a broken wing, so he can't be let out. And he lives in the store. And I thought it was really cute how the bird had so much character and personality to him and how he would, like, people wouldn't. Mildred, she was the one that. She wouldn't want to buy stuff from the store because the bird would have pecked it like the flour, the sugar bag or whatever. So, okay, one of the questions that I found online, it said, who are your favorite characters besides Jack? And besides Jack, Francis, Oswald and Patsy. And so it listed some of these other characters, like Roy. And then who was the store owner? Betty Kitchen, who I think wasn't. Betty was the lady who. Betty was the lady who. Who let Oswald stay at her house. Right. So you have Betty rent first, very small fee. And then there's Francis Cloverton, Claude Underwood. I can't remember which one was Claude. And then you have Mildred and Dottie. So somebody just said, everybody knows a Mildred. And everyone in town. Catherine says, I loved how everyone in the town loved and knew the bird. Yeah. So here comes this little girl, Patsy, and she falls in love with the bir. And she's always around and. And I really loved. I loved. Jack was probably my favorite character. Betty was the old military woman with the kooky mother. Oh, Claude was the mailman. That's right. And he delivered the mail on the boat. On the riverboat. So, yes, everybody's telling me Claude was the mailman. Okay. So I also liked Roy as like a supporting character. I thought he was great. I thought Claude was great. Didn't Claude teach him how to go fish? Take him fishing? He was the one. He was the mailman with the. Oh, my gosh it's all coming back to me. It was the mailman with the boat, and he loved to fish. And he took. He tried to teach Oswald how to fish, but Oswald, all he wanted to do was draw the birds that he saw. Okay, so. So here's an interesting. I looked up some, like, book club questions for this book, and I thought some of these were great. This one says, fanny Flagg seems to be having fun with names in this novel. It's not just Oswald's name, but also the name of Lost River. In what way do many of its residents fit the name of the town? Like, what have some of them lost or missed out on? And I thought that was such a cool. I thought that was such a cool, like, question to think about. I totally did not think about that while I was reading the book. That. So you have Oswald, and he had lost. Like, he was about to lose his life, right? And he, like, never really, like, had found a community. So he kind of, like, lost out on friendship and all of that in his life. Then you've got Patsy, who's lost, like, the ability to walk normally like everyone else. She had the foot that dragged. And then you have what's her name? Francis. And she had lost. She'd never really fallen in love. She'd never really been married. And then Roy, the store owner, he loses the bird. Actually, the whole town loses. So I thought that was, like, really a nice, like, thing about the book that I didn't notice while I was reading it. Okay, here's another question. And actually, let's get my sister on to talk about this. Okay? Emily, how did you feel about the way they handled telling Patsy about Jack? Because this was something that was really hard for me. As I was reading this. I have this thing, like, I really don't like it when people lie. And so I'm like, an overly honest person. And I really hated how. When the bird died. Yes. Sorry for those of you who were spoiling this. The bird dies. And so mad funny thing. I was working at the office and was in a meeting, and I get this text message, and I always, like, it wasn't like, an important meeting or any. I mean, whatever. It wasn't like that. I couldn't look at my phone. I'm always worried that my kids are, like, you know, sick or whatever, in trouble at school. And so I looked out on my phone, and I have a text message from Emily. This is my sister Emily, everyone. And Emily says the bird dies. It made me laugh so hard. I was like.

I was so mad.

Yeah. So the bird died, and Ellen says she was bummed by how they told her. So what did you think about that, Emily? How they lied to.

Oh, I was so mad at all of them. Bunch of liars. I know.

I just wanted them to be like, just tell her.

Then they painted his face with measles and they stuffed the bird. I mean, I'm glad they stuffed the bird because. Well, then they buried it. Then I was mad when they buried it. I'm like, they should have put it up, like, in the.

Yes.

In the store forever.

They had the guy, like, taxidermy it.

Yes.

And they. Yes. I just. I. I was so frustrated, though, because here's this little girl and she gets adopted by this woman. It's so sweet.

And then she could have loved that stuffed bird forever.

Yeah. She could have just told her, like, kids can handle it. Kids can handle the truth. And I just wish that they had told her. But it did make for a better story that they didn't tell her because.

Yeah, that was a funny part. When they're driving by and she waves to the bird.

Yes. And then, like, when it snowed at the end.

Yeah. That was really sweet.

And the bird. She thought the bird came back. And all the red birds. Okay. So I thought that was one of the funniest things about the book, was how they were like, Birmingham. I guess Birmingham doesn't get a lot of snow. But it's, like, in the mountains, too. But it doesn't get a lot of snow. Okay. So they get this snow. Right. And then there's, like, all these red birds. And they're all speculating on why they. There have been, like, this huge flock of red birds. Because cardinals don't. They're not a migratory bird, so they wouldn't be in, like, large flocks like that. Do you remember what. What? Roy and. I guess it was Roy and Oswald. But they figured out that it was because they had put out so much sunflower seeds.

Yes.

That olive birds came out to eat.

But the little girl believed it was just like, Santa or something, Right. Like, I mean, it was like her wish.

Yes. Except, like, Santa didn't come till it was the day after Christmas.

Yeah. Right. Yeah. The whole thing about it being Christmas. It's funny, too, the whole book. There was actually two Christmases, right?

Yes. Because there's a Christmas that Oswald survives the first Christmas.

Yeah.

And then there's. And then it's a full nother Christmas with the. When the redbirds come out.

So I really did like the way they wrapped it up, too. Like how they gave you what? Like how Patsy did become a veterinarian. That was so sweet, too.

Oh, yeah, I read that today. I read the end of the book, she becomes a veterinarian, and like. Yes. So this was totally your kind of book.

Yeah.

So, okay, Emily, the question that everybody wants to know from you. Did you read the end of the book first? You listened to this one?

I listened to it, so I didn't. I didn't have a hard copy of it, so I didn't. Well, you know, that's when I texted you. I was so mad. If I would have had the book in my hand at that point, when the bird died, I would have definitely gone to the end of the book. That's when I would have done it.

When the bird first died, it was like, wait, did the bird really die?

Yeah. Yeah. Because it wasn't even. Like, there was still a little bit left. So I was like, wait a minute. The bird's like, the main character. Why is it dying?

It's a red bird Christmas. Like, how did that possibly happen?

It's not Christmas. How is this bird? Yes, exactly. So. But I didn't read the end because I didn't have a hard copy of it, so.

But you like the end Because Emily likes endings where. Nessus. Where. I want everybody to comment because we always ask this question, do you like happy endings? And Emily likes books with happy endings.

I at least like it resolved. It doesn't have to be happy, but it needs to be. I. I want to know what the author wants me to feel about their people. Because somebody said earlier, I feel like when the book died, I mean, when the book ended, I knew everybody in the town, and I feel that way. So I just want to know, how is everybody? Yes.

So you love, like, with a movie, when there's all those, like, ending credits, even if it's totally made up, you love when they tell you what happened to everybody because.

Not because I want them to tell me what to think. I want to know what the author, you know, thought and saw at the end of the book kind of thing.

It's actually a good point because I think a lot of times, like, I've. Every time I. All these interviews that I'm getting into, reading and listening to interviews from the authors, they all talk about how much these characters become real people to them.

Yeah.

Yeah. And so it is true that you kind of want to know, like, what they wanted to happen to the people in their story, because it's their people. I'M going to read some of these comments. Okay, so let's see. Carrie says she loved the audio version. Fannie Flag is so country. I had to get adjusted to Fanny. She likes to read a lot of her books. I had to get adjusted to her voice because she's so old. But then somebody commented to me on Instagram that they loved how Fanny. It felt like their grandma was reading them a book. Yeah, I never had a grandma that read me. None of our grandma. Neither of our grandmothers. No.

But what if they did? Maybe they sounded like that would be.

Kind of like that. So let's see. Carrie. Let's see. Somebody says, I like the resolution. It felt like the end of the book was a little rushed, but. And they wanted a little bit more. I agree. But I like that it was short, too, especially at Christmas time. A lot of people are agreeing with you. Sarah says she felt like she was in the town. When you feel like they're your real friends, a book Hangover is the best. That's so true.

Yeah.

They really did make you love the town. Okay, Emily, what was your favorite, like, little side story in the book or, like, your favorite part of the book?

I really liked the group of women. What was their group called? The polka dot. Something about polka dots. Polka dot hat, Polka dot society. Something about polka dots. And I really like how they. I love how they acquired Patsy. Like, how they first really tried to do it. Very, like, not. Not non invasive. They were just gonna kind of get her some clothes. They were gonna kind of. I love. I loved how they integrated and then how they got to keep her. I just thought that was really, really sweet because that stepmom or whatever, I was like, oh, my gosh, she is crazy.

Yeah. I thought it was really sweet how they took her on and then they. And then how they ended up getting her.

Yeah.

Her, like, leg fixed and all of that.

But Oswald was so funny. Like, really. I loved his character development. How. Okay. I kind of felt like how he came from the big city. He's in this little, tiny town, and that's how we were when we went to college. It was like, I don't understand even what the words are these people are saying. And, you know, he kind of had that culture shock, but he eventually just really embraced it and became a part of the town. I thought that was really sweet.

So my favorite part of the book was in, like, this is. Even a year later, I still remembered this about Oswald, how he started drawing the birds.

Yes.

And he would go out and he was Just drawing.

Drawing nature. He started drawing all kinds of things.

And so then he takes his drawings to, like, the art. An art gallery in a hotel or something.

They're trying to raise money for the surgery.

That's right. That's right. And so he takes his drawings and he's like, the, like, kind of haggling with the woman over the price of the drawings and thinking he's maybe gonna get, like. Like $20 a piece for them. And she's like, what does she say? I don't remember the exact price. 500 a piece. And she was size.

And he was thinking it was like, $5, and it was like, 500. Yeah.

And I just thought that was so great how, like, this man who was so lonely and so. Because I really feel like that's what the book is about, is about community and how he found healing. She said they're 250, but Jennifer says they're 250. But how he found healing, really, through community. I don't really think it was the weather as much as it was the people, because he found, like, a reason to live by being with these people. And then he, like, actually realized he had a talent for drawing. And he gets.

And he loved that little girl. Oh, my gosh. When he bought her the hat. And then she, like, always wore the hat, the Dr. Pepper cap or whatever, and gave her his birthday. I loved that part so much.

Oh, yeah. Because she didn't. I forgot about that part where she.

Gave him the birthday. That was so sweet.

Okay. Yeah. So one of the things that I read said that the healing was a central motif in the novel, and it was talking about, like, who gets healed and in what ways and how. Oswald wasn't the only person.

No, not at all. Because it never really. So do you think he really had cancer, like, or was it just, like.

It wasn't cancer. It was, like, emphysema.

So he just kind of healed. Yeah.

Yeah. That part of the story was kind of vague.

Yeah.

Maybe dated, like, one of my kids was asking me the other day, they were like, mom, do you really get sick if you go out in the cold without. Because one of my kids friends, the mom, is always making the kid wear a coat and saying he's gonna get sick if he doesn't wear a coat.

And so. That's false.

I know, but I didn't. I didn't know what to tell him because I didn't want him to know.

Yeah, that's true. Because a spoiler alert Ada gotten. She told me she got in A fight the other day because she was telling people there was no Santa Claus. I was like, oh, Ada.

Oh, this is Emily's seven year old daughter. Eight. She's eight now.

She's eight. And so I made her write apology letters. I said, you don't have to tell. The apology letter said, I'm sorry I argued with you about Santa. Will you still be my friend? I don't want her to say anything. I mean, she doesn't have to say she believes or not, but you can't tell people that. Yeah.

Whoops.

Yeah, I know.

Okay, so somebody says, I feel that his loneliness caused him to be sick. It's true.

Yeah.

Like loneliness is actually Ashley Tucker said, wait, there's no Santa.

Sorry. Blame Ada.

Sorry, Ashley. Lots of spoiler alerts on this podcast. But there is like loneliness is actually documented that it can make you sick. So I think, I mean, so. But people do believe that warmer weather is better for you because you're outside more. Somebody said germs make you sick, but that's true. Like you're outside, you're not indoors with sick people all the time. And he, maybe he had like a weakened immune. Immune system. So. Okay, so let's, let's talk about who got healed. So Oswald gets healed and Patsy gets healed.

Frances, she was married. She always wanted to have children. So she gets to be a mother.

She was divorced.

He died. I think he died. Okay. They didn't have kids. Okay. Roy, he has the bird and he loses the bird. But then he ends up getting the girl that he loved before.

That was another person that had lost something. When they were talking about different things that people had lost.

Yeah, he lost the girl.

Had lost the girl. And then they get back, they get back together. Roy and Marie. The husband died. I love how people are like, know all the details and they're like, she was five, she was six. It was, it was 500. The paintings were 500. No, they were 250.

That's why we need each other. Together we can put the whole story back together.

Oh, yeah. And then mom says about Patsy's nurse, the therapist who married the guy. What was that guy's name?

Patsy's nurse and therapist married the guy. Claude. Yeah.

The mailman. Yes, Claude the mailman.

Yes.

But he did marry the nurse.

Yeah. Because he would drive them and he was so odd.

I loved how Fanny Flag would say Claude, Claude, Claude. Or however she said it.

Butch.

But yeah, he was not on my list.

He was the driver guy, though. He drove them?

Yes. That's Right.

Because not everybody had a car.

Yeah. What year did this book take place?

Somebody else asked that, too. It was. It was after World War II because they mentioned the war or something.

Oh, yeah. Because he had fought in the war. So it was, like, in the 60s. Probably not everybody had cars in the 60s.

No. Especially if you lived where you could walk to the store where the bird was.

In Birmingham, where they have boats that deliver the mail.

Oh, my gosh.

Mildred lost Billy Jenkins and then willingly kicked him to the curb again.

And then Mildred was so afraid of the bird, and the bird dies, and she's like, boohooing and sobbing because it was, like, so bad.

That's so. And she hated. She hate, like, going into the store and would always complain about it. Okay. Emily, do you have a favorite Fannie Flagg book? Have you read other Fanny Flag?

I've read some. I'm like, you like. I read some of Fried Green Tomatoes. I read some of that one that took place in Missouri. I read one and, like, a half of those. I love the Fried Green Tomatoes movie. I really love that movie.

Yes. So everybody watching. If you've never watched that movie, watch the movie. Don't read the book. Just watch the movie. Did you read the All Girls Filling Station Reunion? That is my favorite Fannie Flagg book. Okay, so for everybody watching, write this down. The All Girls Filling Station Reunion is so great. It's about. It's about the wasps, which were the women who were in the Air Force who flew planes during World War II. So you have two stories going on side by side. So one's in the 1990s.

That's fried green Tomatoes does that, too.

Yes. So ones. And then I actually, I read today that she wrote the All Girls Filling Station. She always wanted to write a sequel to Fried Green Tomatoes, but she killed off all the characters. And so this was kind of like her, like, sort of nod to those women.

Okay, I want to know, mom, do you like the. Is the All Girls Filling Station? Is that one of the best ones to you?

Yeah. If anybody else has read that book, comment. But so there's the story the wasps, the women in the Air Force, and then the. The, like, front story is this older woman? Because Fanny Flagg always has an old lady as a main character in her book. So there's this older lady, and mom says she loves it. There's this older lady, and she is, like, probably 60, and she finds out that her. That she was adopted, and she, like, freaks out. Like, she. She passes out when she Accidentally reads these papers or whatever. And so you're following her story, and then you're following this, the backstory of the girls who were the wasps, and it's great.

And then it all kind of comes together at the end.

Well, I'm not gonna tell you. I know some people don't want it. Don't want to know about the end.

So I'm just saying the stories connect somehow.

Mom says her favorite is Standing in the Rainbow, and I don't think I ever tried to read that one, but it's in that series that I tried to read the first one, and I didn't really like it. Lisa Hughes read those. Lisa, what did you read? The All Girls Filling Station? Let us know. Okay. My other favorite Fanny Flag book, so I'm gonna recommend two Fanny Flag books, is called I still dream about you. And in that book, so she. Fanny Flag said that that book was like her. I think she said, like her love Letter to Birmingham. It's all about Birmingham. But it's the first funniest book because it's about this older lady who's, like, in her 60s, and she was a former Mrs. Birmingham, not Mrs. Former Ms. Birmingham. And she's a real estate agent, but she never got married. And she's really depressed, and she doesn't like how her life turned out, and she decides that she's going to commit suicide. And so the whole book is, like, about her. Like, things keep happening to stop her. Like, people keep interfering. Elaborate plan. Because she doesn't want anybody to worry about her. She just wants her body to vanish. She comes up with this whole elaborate.

Plan, but people keep.

People keep, like, interfering with her plan. She gives away all of her clothes. I miss one. Spoiler alert.

Okay.

She gives away all of her clothes. And. And she. Then she has to go to something, so she has to go buy more clothes, but she has to buy pantyhose, and she only buys expensive pantyhose. And it's just super funny. Okay, so that was really great. And the audiobook is narrated by Fanny Flagg. I really. It's a little bit slow, but I really loved it. Okay, so thanks, Emily, for joining us. Bye. Love you.