60 pages 2 hours read

Alice Hoffman

Blackbird House

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2004

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Themes

Love as Motivation

For more than 200 years, the inhabitants of Blackbird House experience trauma and sorrow as well as love and new beginnings. One thread uniting the narrative is that love is a powerful motivator in times of difficulty but can cause people to make questionable decisions.

Love provides inspiration through suffering. Coral Hadley first demonstrates this when she refuses to accept that her family is dead and toils tirelessly to cultivate a farm that John would have wanted. The intense physical labor that Coral undertakes is a sign of love and a coping mechanism for her loss. Likewise, love propels Vincent to make the long journey home, although he doesn’t realize it until he reaches his destination. Seeing the farm, “[h]e thought about how love could move you in ways you wouldn’t have imagined, one foot in front of the other, even when you thought you had nothing left inside” (21). Vincent sees the connection between his mother and himself: Love led them both through pain. A similar connection between parent and child surfaces in “The Token.” Distraught over the death of her husband, Ruth is paralyzed. However, when Garnet approaches her with the means to leave, Ruth agrees.

Related Titles

By Alice Hoffman

Plot Summary

logo

Green Angel

Alice Hoffman

Green Angel

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

Half Magic

Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker, Alice Hoffman

Half Magic

Edward Eager, N. M. Bodecker, Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

Incantation

Alice Hoffman

Incantation

Alice Hoffman

Plot Summary

logo

Local Girls

Alice Hoffman

Local Girls

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

Practical Magic

Alice Hoffman

Practical Magic

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

The Dovekeepers

Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

The Invisible Hour

Alice Hoffman

The Invisible Hour

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

The Marriage Of Opposites

Alice Hoffman

The Marriage Of Opposites

Alice Hoffman

Plot Summary

logo

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Alice Hoffman

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Alice Hoffman

Plot Summary

logo

The River King

Alice Hoffman

The River King

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

The Rules of Magic

Alice Hoffman

The Rules of Magic

Alice Hoffman

Study Guide

logo

The World That We Knew

Alice Hoffman

The World That We Knew

Alice Hoffman