The Black Swan

"Set against a spontaneous cross-country road trip following the migrating birds, this memoir is one woman's reflections on midlife, her important personal relationships, her kaleidoscopic past, and her uncertain future." "To fifty-six-year-old Anne Batterson, a woman whose life has been filled with adventure - as a commercial pilot, an international skydiving champion, a trekking guide in Nepal - her husband's decision to retire felt like a death sentence. Yearning for some way to reconcile herself to the future that was rapidly unfolding before her, she packed up her VW camper and hit the road with maps, bird guides, and little else except the desire to follow the fall migration and the bone-deep hunch that birds had something important to teach her." "In this narrative of that trip, Batterson writes not only about her experiences with the birds but also about the people she loves, has lost, and connects with along the way." "A mix of memoir and nature writing, The Black Swan is a story of a woman's odyssey"--Jacket.