©  Copyright 2009 Christina Baker Kline.  All Rights Reserved.
Christina Baker Kline is
Writer in Residence at
Fordham University.
Photo by Jerry Bauer
Novels
Non-Fiction
Order now from
IndieBound.org or Amazon.com or
as an audio book from Audible.com
Christina Baker Kline
Blog
What tips and tricks do I use when I write?  Visit my blog, where I share my insights into my creative process.
Praise for Bird in Hand
On Sale Now



  • Nov. 5: "Take Back the Night" rally speaker 5 pm,
    sponsored by Fordham University's ISIS
    organization -- 59th and Columbus, NYC
  • Nov. 11: Book and Author event, keynote speaker
    -- Upper Montclair Women's Club, NJ, 1:30 pm
  • Nov. 12: "Literary Lights" Book Festival,
    Greenwich Arts Council, CT -- signing, 6-8 pm
  • Nov. 13:  Book and Author Luncheon, keynote
    speaker -- the Women's Club of Little Falls, NJ,
    12:30 pm
  • See News & Contacts for more
  • Barnes & Noble: “Recommended Book”
  • The Center for Fiction: "A Book We Love"
  • Real Simple.com: "Featured Selection"
  • Available in the UK and Canada September 1
  • Available an Audible.com audiobook,  narrated
    by Alison Larkin
"A gripping tale about two crumbling marriages, this novel by the author of The
Way Life Should Be offers a realistic and, at times, heartbreaking look at love and
friendship." — Real Simple

“I hesitate to call Kline a ‘serious novelist’ for fear of obscuring her easy style and
fluid metaphor-making...but she’s the real deal.  Kline dramatizes private life, from
the charged crosscurrents of broken families to the robust intimacies of sex, with a
generous, knowing appreciation of human nature.”  — Boston Globe

"Kline keeps us glued to the page."  — Newsday

“A razor-sharp novel about love, marriage and obligation.”  — More magazine

“Christina Baker Kline is a relentless storyteller. Once she sets her hook and starts
reeling you in, struggle becomes counterproductive. The narrative line is too taut,
the angler at the other end too skillful.”
— Richard Russo

“In Bird in Hand, Christina Baker Kline looks at marriage, at parents and children,
pain and sorrow, and at all the questions that life asks us. This is a wise and lovely
book.”  — Roxana Robinson

“Bird in Hand is more than a novel about friendship, love, marriage, and life-altering
choices we can make. Kline explores human nature by writing about love affairs,
and twists and turns in her characters’ relationships, to suggest that we might be
meant to live more than one life… Insight into family history and dynamics fully
develop Kline’s characters in a way that strengthens the novel.  It is easy to get
absorbed in each character’s motivation and personality.” – Sacramento Book Review

“Kline’s unflinching gaze and lovely prose set [Bird in Hand] apart from the herd of
infidelity/marital ennui novels. It’s well-done, thoughtful and thought-provoking.”  
— Publishers Weekly

“[T]he story of four best friends — two couples — whose lives have become
hopelessly intertwined; Kline explores the complications of the lines and bonds
between marriage and friendship with honest and complex emotions on all four
narrative fronts.”  — Booklist

“Bird in Hand explores marriage and infidelity without seeming like a soap opera.
This book isn’t so much about what’s happening as why and how it’s happening.  A
very real exploration of love and marriage, in public and in private, between
partners and within the self.” — Charleston (SC) City Paper

"We loved Bird in Hand, the story of how one traumatic event pulls apart two
couples, and sets in motion a chain of events that changes the dynamics of their
friendship and eventually, their lives."  — New Jersey Monthly  

“Kline’s novel mines the ripple effect of a split second.  [She] examines what lies
beneath the surface of urban and suburban lives [and] creates characters that
evoke the reader’s sympathy.”  — Bangor Daily News

“Kline’s fourth novel exhibits an unsparing eye for the telling details that reveal
how people think and act….[A] good book club choice.”  — Library Journal

“It is both thrilling and terrifying to read this powerful new novel and think: this
could be me. Christina Baker Kline takes us on an intimate journey with her
characters, one that brings us dangerously close to the hidden truths about love,
trust and friendship.” — Ellen Sussman

“What a story!  One of those books I was sad to finish.  I loved the story and
the way everyone takes responsibility for what happens, as tough as the situations
are.  I particularly loved the story-within-a-story/author element. You are in for a
treat.” – Robin Kall, radio host, “Reading With Robin”

“Bird in Hand explores the lies we allow ourselves to believe and how nothing can
be boiled down to a single decision, even if that single decision can reveal all that
we’ve tried so hard to mask.  Well-written and engaging, realistic and provocative,
dark and troubling … [Bird in Hand] is an extraordinary story of Middle America.”
— ArmchairInterviews.com

“The dramatic prologue to this thought-provoking novel grabs you by the throat …
This book explores love, friendships, loss, marriage and the choices that we make
that can change our lives forever.  A wise, powerful and thrilling novel.”
– BookPleasures.com

“In the quietly powerful Bird in Hand, Christina Baker Kline cuts through the
delicate lines of marriage and friendship, revealing their fragility.”
– StyleSubstanceSoul.com

“A fast-paced literary read about friendship and marriage.  Kline’s novel and I were
immediately joined at the eyeballs for a whole day. That’s right.  I was the girl on
the diet who saw a bowl of M&Ms and scarfed down every last one and then
skipped around the room on a sugar high. …Kline’s writing is such a joy that you’ll
relish every word. If you love the written word, truly beautiful language, then Kline
is your gal…. She writes not from on high, as some literary writers do, writing
“down” to you, but with a strong sense of relevancy and spark…. Bird goes one step
further, digging deep into our psyches, where the dreams and missteps of our own
lives come clearly into view. How we’ve ended up where we are now may be a
mystery to us, but thanks to Kline’s brilliantly assertive novel, we may actually be
able to solve it.”  – BookEndBabes.com

“Incredibly engaging … Kline creates a complex narrative to explain the
connections and experiences between these four well-developed characters …  
[She] uses this novel to explore the choices adults make. City life or suburbs. A life
without children or a life with.  Suitor 1 or Suitor 2.  This makes the book
refreshingly real.” – MarnesandNoble.blogspot.com

“I started reading this book yesterday and I finished it this morning. Yes, it was
good and read quickly!  This is a book about relationships – between spouses and
between friends. Very well written. We have some other books by Kline in the
library – I will definitely be checking those out too.” – Indianola (IA) Public Library

“The key to this profound family drama is that Christina Baker Kline does not
moderate from her resolute unwavering glimpse at the end of two marriages,
through the unblinking eyes of the four protagonists turning seemingly into
antagonists.” — GenreGoRound Reviews.com

"Christina Baker Kline's clean, crisp writing drew me into the novel and I kept
reading until my eyes refused to stay open.  This is one of those times I wish I
belonged to a book club. The discussion would be lively, I'm sure. Bird in Hand is
the second novel I've read by Christina Baker Kline, and I look forward to reading
another soon."  —Bookfan.com

"The characters are very well-developed, and [Bird in Hand] engages the reader as
a result … I felt this was a story that most thirty-something couples could relate to:
the compromises young couples face in life, that restless feeling of "is this all there
is," regrets of past choices, to have children or not, etc.  Honestly, as a baby
boomer, I did not expect to enjoy this story, yet I did.  Recommended."
— BibliophileByTheSea.com

"A fine story, extremely well told.  A great deal of praise should be bestowed on
author Kline for creating characters that adult readers can relate to.  At one point in
Bird in Hand, Kline writes of Alison’s experiences as a young woman, “It was a
strange and magical feeling.”  Kline has delivered a strange, unique, magical and
borderline brilliant story.  Highly recommended.” – Joseph’s Reviews (Part 1, Part 2)
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