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  • Published: 8 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804993125
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $26.00

Goodbye Birdie Greenwing





‘A gorgeously tender story about friendship and love it all its forms’ (Good Housekeeping) From the author of Dog Days, a funny, uplifting novel about 3 very different strangers who move into the same street and find they have more in common than they think.

‘A gorgeously tender story about friendship and love it all its forms’ Good Housekeeping

‘Ericka Waller writes beautifully about the complex love that bonds families and forges the most unlikely of friendships’ Katherine Heiny

'One of those books that lingers... I laughed, cried and felt more compassionate for reading it' Jennie Godfrey

___________

Welcome to Shrublands Road, please follow the speed limit.

Meet Birdie Greenwing, determined and no-nonsense. Also, lonely and carrying secrets that only her beloved rescue dog knows about.

Ada Kowalski is lonely too. She came to England to help people, but she can’t seem to help herself.

Jane and her daughter Frankie are new to the street, although Jane’s cleaning-obsessive mother Min is never far away. Jane wishes she could be as outspoken as her daughter. What will it take for Jane to finally stand up to everyone?

One life-changing event brings Birdie, Ada and Jane together in ways they never imagined. But is it ever too late to begin again?

_______

Readers say:

'If you love a character-driven story, this book needs to be top of your list! It is such a wonderful, heartfelt read and has zoomed into my favourite reads of the year. A total delight and an easy five stars.'

'The women in this book are complex, loveable , messy and wonderful. Reading this story made me feel all the feelings.'

'A book that will make you reflect on your own life and the importance of the connections we make with each other'

'A wonderful read — funny, moving and above all a love letter to the importance community in all its forms'

'The way Ericka Waller writes is just so evocative and exquisite...this book just felt like one huge hug.'

  • Published: 8 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781804993125
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 352
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Ericka Waller

Ericka Waller lives in Brighton with her husband, three daughters and pets. Previously, she worked as a blogger and columnist. Dog Days is the sum of everything she has learned about love, loss and the healing power of dogs.
Twitter: @erickawaller1
Instagram @erickamary
http://muminthesouth.co.uk/

Also by Ericka Waller

See all

Praise for Goodbye Birdie Greenwing

I read Birdie in 24hrs (not exaggerating) and it absolutely destroyed me! Goodbye Birdie Greenwing absolutely nails being at once extremely funny and incredibly moving. Ericka Waller’s voice is so powerful, tender and beautiful. I found the characters and the story so relatable and emotionally compelling that I was hooked from the very first page and couldn't think about anything else until I'd finished reading... I cannot tell you how much I loved it, or how many packs of tissues it cost me. I can see it being enormously popular with book clubs (mine would love it).

Jessica Bull, author of Miss Austen Investigates

A lovely and poignant novel, filled with insight and dry wit. Ericka Waller writes beautifully about the complex love that bonds families and forges the most unlikely of friendships. The painful, funny struggles of the women in this book — mothers, daughters, sisters, neighbours, doctors, patients — will resonate with readers everywhere.

Katherine Heiny, author of Games and Rituals

Goodbye Birdie Greenwing is one of those books that lingers. Its power lies in incredible characters whose lives it is impossible not to become invested in. I laughed, cried and felt more compassionate for reading it. A triumph.

Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

Oh, the exquisite, tender misfits in Goodbye Birdie Greenwing! I love them all. I love the way loneliness is gathered up into such a delightfully odd community. I love the entire book - so fresh and funny and bright, but with a wild, griefy heartbeat thumping along darkly beneath it all.

Catherine Newman, author of We All Want Impossible Things

A beautiful book. Exquisitely written, so carefully and tenderly observed, Ericka Waller makes her characters and their lives shine; this is something truly special.

Louisa Reid, author of The Poet

Ericka Waller has knocked it out of the park with Goodbye Birdie Greenwing. This heartwarming, moving celebration of human connection had me invested in every single one of its brilliant characters. It deserves all the stars.

CJ Cooke, author of The Lighthouse Witches

Every page will reward you with words to live by. A gift of a story.

Tish Delaney, author of The Saint of Lost Things

Goodbye Birdie Greenwing is a book about women coming together in support of one another. It's a book about what it means to be a sister, and a mother, a daughter, and a neighbour. It's a book about long-held secrets and what happens when they come spilling out. But it's more than all of that, too. The prose dazzles on every page. And in Birdie, Jane, and Ava, Ericka Waller has created characters who are bursting with life... They clawed under my skin and left their bleddy footprints all over my heart.

Laura Pearson, author of The Last List of Mabel Beaumont

Phenomenal. One of those rare books that will make you cry with both laughter and sorrow yet leave you feeling utterly uplifted. A beautiful rare treasure of a book that is gorgeous in every way. An absolute must-read. Unforgettable.

Liz Hyder, author of The Illusions

Just finished Ericka Waller's Goodbye Birdie Greenwing, and you need to put this on your list now. It is the most heartwarming, charming book I wish I wrote. The characters are richly drawn, and the way Ericka understands so clearly what makes us human and what we universally want just touched me. Birdie is about, simply, the beauty of being alive and making connections.

Ethan Joella, author of The Same Bright Stars

A novel that peeps behind the closed doors of Shrublands Road, Brighton, and finds... life! A tenderly evoked story about the fragility of being human and the strength of being in it together.

Joanna Glen, author of All My Mothers

What a beautiful, tender, gorgeous and thoughtful book. Ericka has such a gift for writing real people and respecting even the smallest details that make a life. Birdie Greenwing is a heartfelt and hopeful delight of a read... I loved it.

Ilona Bannister, author of When I Ran Away

What a wonderful book this is... moving, it’s funny, it’s beautifully written and it’ll stay with me for a long time.

Frances Quinn, author of The Smallest Man

Fragility, eccentricity, resilience and love abound in this exquisitely written book

Hazel Prior, author of Love and Otter Miracles

A stunning novel following three women, all lost in their own way … a beautiful portrayal of friendship and hope.

Woman & Home

Prepare to shed some tears while reading this gorgeously tender story about friendship and love it all its forms.

Good Housekeeping

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