You Can’t Help a Bird From Flying Over Your Head but You Can Keep It From Building a Nest in Your Hair: Motheater by Linda H. Codega

CW: Racism, religious fanaticism

Welcome to the Appalachian mountains, an area that spans through multiple states, with its own recognized culture. Appalachia has a history of exploitation from mining companies, as well as an even richer history of its own folklore. After the loss of her best friend in the mines of Kire Mountain, Bennie spends her time searching for clues on how she died. Bennie has lost everything - her job, her boyfriend, and her community - because of her obsession with proving the mining company corrupt. What she finds instead is a half-drowned white woman with amnesia who calls herself Motheater, but has amnesia. 

Together, they embark on a journey to save the mountain… or so they think. 

Welcome to Motheater by Linda H. Codega.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep.

The saying in the title means “You can’t keep problems from happening, but you can help how you react to them.” This saying is very apt. The Appalachian Mountains have been exploited for their natural resources for a very long time in the name of progress. Progress isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when it comes at the expense of lives and the wholesale disregard and destruction of unique ecosystems, it can become problematic. 

This story isn’t one of black and whites. The mountain lashes out at the miners, even though they are simply trying to make a living. Bennie knows that corporations are bad - and she isn’t wrong. But in an area where the choices are limited on what a person can do to make a living, the lines of morality start to blur. Motheater, as she slowly regains her memories, begins to remember her own struggles against a mining company and her loyalties to the town. Motheater and Bennie form a connection - one of magic, one of vengeance, and one that leans heavily towards love. 

When I started this review, I got to thinking about the specific way some people protest corporations. Recently, I know that people have been disposing of their cars, avoiding certain stores, or not ordering online to prove a point. The thing is - the ability to protest in this manner can come from a place of privilege. That’s something we seem to forget. Not everyone can afford to just return their vehicles or to stop shopping at what might be one of the only places they can get groceries or clothing. We tend to forget that in our need to try and make our voices heard. When others can’t do the same, we disparage them or feel like they don’t care. Not everything is so cut and dry, which is why life is so very messy. 

We can’t lose sight of protecting and respecting each other. The biggest lesson that Bennie and Motheater learn is that together, with each other and the people who care about them (and the people they are trying to protect), change is possible.