This just wasn't very interesting. There just wasn't really much of a plot to this book besides the romance, which wasn't done well either. I just didn't really feel any chemistry between these two characters. There was more chemistry between her and Pike and that was more of an unrequited lust rather than anything else. The characters felt a bit one dimensional as well, that might be why none of the romance worked. The switching to earlier years in the beginning was a bit confusing to me and by the end I didn't really get the purpose of it. Same thing with the chapters from Pike's perspectives. It didn't add anything to the story and made him more unlikeable, in my opinion. I also just didn't like the paranormal aspects included in this book. It kind of felt like a last attempt to try and throw a plot in but it wasn't really well done, in my opinion.

The description of this book seemed like it was written for me. Historical fiction? Check. Focus on the wife of a famous author? Check. Give insight into the life of a poet I admire? Check. As someone who loves Paula McLain’s depictions of Hemingway’s wives, I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Georgie is an interesting character, who many times can’t even fully explain why she is attracted to the much-older Yeats herself. The depictions of the Yeats and Pound were interesting and in keeping with what one has already heard about them. However, I found myself rooting for Georgie to give Yeats the boot. I did’t feel convinced that their connection was as substantial as it was supposed to be. Alice Miller is a talented writer, and I will definitely read her future books, but I was left a little disappointed with this one.

2.5 stars!
I had high expectations for this historical fiction novel based on the life of Irish poet W.B Yeats through the eyes of his young girlfriend, Georgie Hyde-Lees. She is enamored by him from the ripe, young age of 21 and is taken on an emotional rollercoaster throughout the first World War. He even introduces her to the occult known as The Order, a secret society involved with seances and speaking to those who have passed on. She gets a job in a hospital for wounded officers, where she meets a young gentleman Lieutenant Pike, who tries to win her affection over Yeats.

While most of the book is very factual and I appreciate the research that went into it, I just could not get behind Yeats and found myself angry with Georgie for not wanting more for her life and love. I guess you can't help who you fall for though!

This is the type of book that I read and something think - is this book too above my head?

The writing is beautiful. The story is wonderful. But...I just didn't care? I love stories of secret societies and things that dabble in the occult but this left me ...bored. Georgie is an emotional mess. Yeats - same. Maybe they deserved each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

𝙄𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚’𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧.

More Miracle Than Bird tells the story of Georgie Hyde- Lee’s life changing love for the great poet W.B. Yeats. Always hungry for more, anxious to have to chance to learn important, meaningful things she decides to travel to Italy with her beautiful friend Dorothy. This as her parent’s are once again having problems and her father has been ‘booted out’ of the family home. An alcoholic, Captain Gilbert is bound to drink himself to death, more so living alone with no one to care and watch out for him. Upon her return, there is deep loss, grief and loads of blame she knows her mother deserves. Through her friendship with Dorothy, she continues to travel and attend countless soirées and seances, it is during a party that she decides to seek W.B. Yeats out in the hopes of obtaining an invitation to the Order. Long in tooth by comparison to the twenty-one year old Georgie, Yeats sponsors her joining ‘The Order”, a secret society deeply enmeshed in all things occult. Charmed by her passions “I’ll do anything to speak to the dead”, when they share a moment of private intimacy he discovers an intellectual and the two from then on labor in the pursuits of Divine Science. When she isn’t navigating the depths of that dark, mysterious world she is caring for soldiers. Tending to the wounded she meets Lieutenant Pike, a man as enamored of her as she is of Yeats but her heart belongs to the older, Irish poet. Pike is suffering through the decline of his own love affair, sure that his sweetheart could find no value or joy in a broken man. Georgie is like a blessing from the universe to his mind.

When Georgie confides in her friend Dorothy about her hopes for a future with William Butler Yeats, her friend reacts as if both humored and appalled. Dorothy dares to speak of the splinter in their blossoming relationship, the name Maud Gonne, his deepest love and muse. Georgie is adamant, she wants what she wants, Maud and the other affairs are in the past, where they belong! She is his future. She and W.B. have a passion for the spiritual world and all it’s discoveries. She has been rising in rank with The Order, a strong student. It doesn’t matter to her if even her own mother pushes home old lies, that Yeats is nothing but a womanizer.

Hence, like many a woman before her, she rushes headfirst into the tumultuous sea of love, letting it take her where it will, despite warnings earthly and otherwise. Spirits guide her, pens hover in automatic writing, words from the spirit realm feed Yeat’s poetry and past love triangles haunt their budding love as well as any specter from the other side. When Iseult comes into play, more disturbances enter their relationship and Georgie’s confidence in Yeats affection for her sinks lower. Georgie is a serious, sensible girl, she reminds others, and it gnaws at her to think Yeats could even now feel buried by his love for Maud Gonne and yet give her own heart such silly hope. But his poetry is evidence of all that feeling swarming inside of him for that woman! Yet, unrequited love is exactly what Lieutenant Pike is himself in the throes of- for Georgie.

If “attraction was a kind of mystery” that certainly seems to be the case in this novel. Just what draws us to those who should repel us with their behavior? Why does thwarted love inspire more passion than love returned? Can any woman be satisfied in love that feels secondhand? Is she nothing more than a salve for the wounds Maud’s refusals give Yeats? How long can we fool ourselves, with smoke and mirrors? Georgie is about to discover that for herself. It was an engaging if not strange journey reading about Georgie Hyde-Lee and W.B. Yeats relationship. People are strange, aren’t they? He comes off as fickle and silly, it can’t be helped. Maybe it was the time in his life, his age? A decent debut novel about one curious love affair.

Publication Date: June 2, 2020

Tin House Books

2.5 stars

I guess I went into this one with high expectations because I've had a good run of historical fiction reads lately. This one unfortunately fell flat as hardly anything seemed to click with me. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this one more had I known anything about W. B. Yeats and his wife before reading. They didn't seem to come alive on the pages and to be quite honest I was bored for so much of the story.

Georgie Hyde-Lees is twenty-one years old when she first meets poet W. B. Yeats. Even though he is much, much older than Georgie, she is drawn to him. He introduces her to the world of the occult and a secret society called The Order. World War 1 is threatening to break out and Georgie spends some of her time working in a makeshift hospital in London treating injured soldiers.

I just could not get into any of the story that involved Yeats which is a significant portion of the book. And that's a shame because he was the main reason I chose to read this book as I was interested in learning about him. With a good historical fiction you don't need to have prior knowledge about the famous person or event, in order to enjoy the story. However, in this case it could have helped a bit as it might have given me a better understanding of him as a person. To be perfectly honest, it still remains a mystery to me as to what Georgie saw in him.

There were elements of the story I liked which is why I stuck with it. Georgie had an interesting family history and I would have been fine if the book went into more detail about her childhood. I also thought the injured soldier at the hospital, Lieutenant Pike, enhanced the story and my interest level always went up when there was a scene at the hospital. Now whether or not Lieutenant Pike actually existed or was a product of the author's imagination, I do not know. Maybe the history buffs will have the answer. Regardless, I liked him as a character.

While this was a bit of a disappointing read for me, I have no regrets about reading it. Not every book is going to be a good fit for every reader.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary fiction at its best a debut novel based in WW1.a novel that drew me in kept me engaged.Complicated relationship multilayered unputdownable.#netgalley#ww.norton.

A very interesting WWI story; I love fresh perspectives on either of the world wars as it seems both have been covered extensively. Miller blended fact and fiction flawlessly in this fantastical and heartbreaking book.

This was interesting but didn't keep me as hooked as I expected. Alice Miller certainly got the gist of Yeats and I enjoyed learning more about him from the point of view of his wife.

Good writing and an interesting read. I got lost when the protagonist got involved in seances and the occult, so this book thus made me lost interest. Great cover, and I appreciate the opportunity to review this book.

I thought this was marketed to fans of Paula Mclain and Melanie Benjamin. However, it's a bit more literary and (for lack of a better word) odd, compared to novels by those authors. The emphasis on the occult drags the narrative down and may impact some readers' enjoyment of this otherwise well-written tale. The historical details are on point, but the character development lacks a bit.

I don’t know what to say. I was very excited to get my first book on net galley for advanced review, but then reality came crashing. I have tried to pick up this book no less than a dozen times, but I just can’t. The characters have failed to grab me, the story is uninteresting, and it has fallen flat for me. I dreaded even trying to pick it up.
I appreciate the opportunity to review but this was not the book for me.

Many historical fiction novels offer the reader a glance at a famous person or group of people through the eyes of a wife or girlfriend. In this case, the reader is introduced to the poets W. B. Yeats and Ezra Pound through the eyes of Georgie Hyde-Lees. Georgie is in love with William Yeats, and though she is not the love of his life, they do eventually end up married.

I never felt that I got a true understanding of Yeats through this novel. His fascination with the occult seems to be what draws he and Georgie together, but he does not appear to remain involved even as he urges Georgie to continue with her studies and interactions with groups interested in the occult. Yeats is obviously in love with another woman, who does not return his affections. Eventually he and Georgie do end up together, but I had a difficult time caring about their relationship or understanding Georgie's obsession with the poet.

The writing is good and the story kept me interested, but the only storyline that I found interesting was about Georgie's work in the hospital helping soldiers recover from war injuries. However interesting I found this, Georgie seemed much less interested in it and spent most of her time in the hospital thinking about Yeats or her studies of the occult.

Book groups may enjoy discussing the various aspects of this novel and fans of historical fiction may enjoy it. Personally, I just was not invested in the characters or the story of their lives.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Tin House Books
Pub. Date: June 2, 2020

This book’s unusual title is from a line in the poem, “Sailing to Byzantium,” by William ButlerYeats. The novel’s setting is in England on the eve of WWI. The book is marketed for fans (and I am one) of Paula McLain’s female fictional memoir, “The Paris Wife.” I have enjoyed other novels written in this manner, such as “The Aviator's Wife” by Melanie Benjamin. In both novels, the author blurs the line between a biography and fiction focusing on the wives of the famous men they married. The catch is that the reader gets to learn about the famous men through the eyes of the forgotten women. “Miracle” is another novel reimagining a romantic relationship through the wife’s eyes. This time between Georgie Hyde-Lees who was married to the great Irish poet, W.B. Yeats. As it says in the prologue, written by biographer, Richard Ellmann, “Had Yeats died instead of marrying, he would have been remembered as a remarkable minor poet…who except in a handful of poems, did not have much to say.” We get it, ‘behind every great man…’yada-yada.

What makes this one different and a bit odd is that the midlife poet introduces the much younger 21-year-old Hyde-Lees to a mysterious occult that is obsessed with the afterlife. ‘The Order’ is the name of the secret society. (I googled, it’s all true). Fortunetellers, séances and the weirdly hooded robe-wearing Order members are a large chunk of the plot. I was not expecting hocus pocus in this book. It totally took me by surprise leaving me with mixed feelings. I enjoyed learning how eccentric Yeats was, but I was not interested in the couple’s occult shenanigans. However, the author does a good job of keeping the pace racing. At one point, Georgie finds herself in a closed coffin as part of an initiation. Miller has a nice dichotomy going on. By day, Georgie is working in a hospital for injured soldiers, one who is smitten with her (not sure if the soldier is real or fictional), and by night, she is with her poet, his famous pals not to mention attending occult meetings. The love affair and marriage are a bit duller than found in “The Aviator’s” and “The Paris,” probably because the author paints W.B. as not as taken with his wife as she is with him. His big love affair that went on for decades was with a married women pre-Georgie (I googled. Again, true). This is a well-researched and interesting tale. This reviewer never knew how much she didn’t know about the acclaimed poet. Although, I would have enjoyed reading a bit more about the British royal family before the war, I still found “Miracle” an interesting read written in a compelling prose.