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“Crow Talk” is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Eileen Garvin wrote “The Music of Bees” in 2021, “Crow Talk” in 2024, and has a new book coming out in 2026, “Bumblebee Season.”

She is a beekeeper and writer who lives in Oregon. She also wrote the book “How to be a Sister” about her relationship with her autistic sister.

The book has three narrators: Frankie, an ornithologist mired in the process of getting her masters thesis finalized and struggling with the death of her father, losing the support of her thesis advisor, and alcohol.

Anne, a music teacher and composer from Ireland, married to Tim, an heir to a wealthy Seattle media company, is struggling with grief and being put on leave from her job.

The third is Anne’s 5-year-old son Aiden. Aiden started out life talkative and outgoing, but retreated into silence around the time Anne’s best friend was killed in a terrorist act in Ireland. He is in the process of being evaluated due to his often inexplicable behaviors and it is causing stress in Anne’s marriage and with her aloof in-laws.

Frankie has retreated to the very remote family cabin on June Lake, and Anne, Tim and Aiden are in their family’s large vacation home nearby.

Frankie’s father had been a caretaker for many of the cabins on the bay. This isolated area is accessible only by boat, with no phone service. They are the only residents on the bay due to the fact that it is September.

Aiden encounters Frankie, her work with the local crows, her tapes of crow vocalizations, and her patience, and forms a real bond. Anne and Frankie form a tentative friendship. A brutal and sudden winter storm brings many tensions to a head, and life for all of them changes dramatically.

The setting is stunning, a remote lake in Washington State, surrounded by mountains and forests, and full of wildlife.