The Lumberjack's Dove

by GennaRose Nethercott

First published 2018

A lumberjack swings his axe and cuts off his hand. But the hand does not simply fall to the ground. It transforms into a dove and takes flight. This single moment of violence and change becomes the center of a story told from multiple viewpoints. The lumberjack must reckon with his loss and what it means to be incomplete. The dove carries memories of being flesh and bone while learning what it means to have wings. Even the axe speaks, sharing its own perspective on the act that changed everything. Each voice reveals different truths about sacrifice and desire, about how bodies change and time passes. The story moves through brief scenes that feel like folklore, where magical events carry deeper meanings about what makes us human. As the lumberjack, the dove, and the axe each tell their part of the tale, the book becomes a meditation on storytelling itself and how we make sense of transformation and loss.

Genres: literary-fiction, fantasy, magical-realism, folklore

Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking

Tropes: magical-realism, multiple-perspectives

96 pages · Paperback · Ecco

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