Book Review of My Costa Rican Humming Bird Sings

Leva Styles
Jan 18, 2020
2 min read

Updated: Mar 30, 2020

The Central American country of Costa Rica is breathtaking. Surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, it is no wonder that it is an area known for its magnificent waterfalls and beaches. Flowers, vegetation, and foliage that sprout from its rich volcanic soils, and bloom from the tropical shrubs are fragrant and a sedative for the soul.

Oh, how seemingly beautiful inside and out Costa Rica is to shallow tourists that remain within the protected areas of the country. Shallow also is the reader that disregards Nancy V. Brown’s book, “My Costa Rican Humming Bird Sings,” merely believing that because the cover displays a pretty face, that her story lacks depth.

Brown divulges her painful past, her flaws, disappointments, and obstacles through her autobiography, poetry, scriptures, photos, artwork, short stories, and prayers. But this is unlike any book I’ve ever read, it is truly an amalgamation. Imagine “reading” Beethoven’s Symphony №5, as though it was a story. Like Symphony №5, Brown’s story begins at the crescendo with the percussion, drums, and strings blaring simultaneously. Then seamlessly softens into the strings for but a moment, before resurgence into the climatic cluster of instruments.

Brown begins her story with what is undoubtedly the most agonizing experience in her entire life. But then she transitions into a well-versed tour guide, showering us with first-hand details of Costa Rica’s provinces, national sayings, holidays, cultural foods, birds and flowers within the borders of her beloved home. The tempo alters, yet again, as she reflects on a dark moment in her past.

“He quickly turned around and knocked me to the ground, and he went straight for my neck…the doctors realized that the dog bit the main artery in my neck, my vocal cords. The doctors had to make a long, eight-inch incision down my neck in order to repair the damage. They reconstructed my right cheek as it was hanging and had been almost completely bit off.”

Readers interested in a sequential script that follows the typical progression of an autobiography may undervalue the various shades projected within Brown’s novel. I appreciate this book because it is a baroque composition. Brown takes you on a journey, an adventure like no other through abuse, divorce, sickness, loss, and depression. But at every turn, her salvation rests in the hands of God. Brown credits God for giving her the strength and endurance to withstand life’s challenges. As she states in one of her closing poems,

“My hummingbird is a beautiful reflection of the joy that He brings; On my times of panic, I pressed on the power that lies deep within, allowing the tests of times and the trials not to win; Beautiful reflections of love that walked out of my life, not once, not twice. But countless times He stirred up my gifts, and He set my soul afire…Many times I too could have ended up dead… But yet and still, His gentle touch reopened my heart and made me His perfect new creation.”

And what a beautiful creation you are Ms. Brown, both externally and inwardly!

Nancy V. Brown is an entrepreneur, a Christian life coach, transformational and empowerment coach, celebrity hairstylist, and philanthropist. Her book can be purchased on Amazon.