Seven Blackbirds

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Kim MacLean keeps the domestic abuse in her past hidden from everyone—even herself— while finishing a law degree and caring for the baby whose arrival destroyed her marriage.

Seven Blackbirds is set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the city is almost a character in itself, handsomely set down and rich in detail. It’s an eclectic musical journey, too. From Schütz’s “Seven Last Words of Christ” to Delbert McClinton singing “She’s Like Rolling a Seven Every Time I Roll the Dice,” Kim’s story is full of music, as her healing process ultimately requires confronting her own abandonment of a promising musical career, and the subsequent loss of the voice of her soul. Using all the tools at her disposal—her good friends, philosophical turn of mind, and sense of humor—she finally achieves a divorce and full custody of her now-two-year-old. Stepping out of the Tulsa County Courthouse on a Spring day into an unusual blanket of snow, she confronts “the beauty of the unforeseen,” poised not just to survive but to thrive, precisely because she refuses to see herself as a victim.

Praise

“Heartbreaking images fill the pages of this raw, painfully real novel—a rare, honest look at a survivor’s journey to rebuild, reclaim, and move forward. …Black presents a perceptive account that speaks truth to too many women’s lived experiences.” —Publisher’s Weekly, BookLife Review

“At its heart, it is a book about survival and the small but vital sparks of strength that carry someone through darkness. …What I admired most was how the book carried its emotional weight without preaching. It didn’t tell me how to feel; it just put me in the room and let me sit there until I had to come up with my own reaction. …This isn’t an easy book, but it’s an important one.” —Literary Titan

“A raw, unsettling, and sharply observed narrative of domestic violence and resilience.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Black presents a harrowing and introspective first-person portrayal of psychological abuse with unflinching authenticity.” —IndieReader

“Could not put it down. As someone who’s worked in the domestic violence legal field for many years, I found this story compelling, moving, and completely credible. The protagonist’s legal struggles to free herself and her son from her husband are unfortunately all too typical of what happens in real life, where batterers often are able to drag things out for years, run up huge legal bills for their former partners, and otherwise use the court system to continue their abuse. The courtroom scene near the end of the book is hilarious and maddening and very accurate, in that the batterer shows his true colors. But perhaps more important, the main character moves from being a victim to reconnecting with her authentic self. This is a story of transformation and empowerment, with a lot of humor, great dialogue, and sometimes very poetic imagery.” —Nancy K. D. Lemon, Berkeley Law Professor

“…the novel…embeds a flavor of discovery, recovery, and movement within its vivid saga…Kim’s experiences will draw, delight, and define women who are on their own paths to realization and healing. …Seven Blackbirds…hits the nail on the head and sinks it firmly into women’s realities.” —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

“Helen Winslow Black’s novel Seven Blackbirds opens with a gut-wrenching scene of a young mother beaten by her husband while she holds her infant in her arms. Kim Baltakis’s narrative of her journey from abused wife to independent woman is told with intelligence and dexterity. This is tough material, but Black’s control of tone never falters. Seven Blackbirds is rich in memorable characters and vivid settings from Kim’s single-mother flat in Tulsa, Oklahoma to her family’s waterfront vacation house in Wisconsin. Well-educated, well-bred–a cellist as well as a lawyer–Kim is not your typical victim, just as her husband, Larry, does not fit the stereotype of an abusive husband. Yet that is Black’s point exactly. The novel explores the complexities behind Kim’s compelling story, and gives the reader fresh insight into the dynamics of domestic abuse.” —Corinne Demas, Author of thirty-eight books including “The Road Towards Home” and “Daughters”

“Grim circumstances handled with wit and comedy in this first novel, set largely in the depths of Oklahoma, with side trips to Chicago’s gold coast. The protagonist, with a diaper bag and baby in tow, stumbles along the road to wholeness without a word of psychobabble, but with help of a series of intimate new friends. A tale of a competent, accomplished woman, climbing out of her incompetent past.” —Editors Select, Notre Dame Review