The Hummingbird

The Hummingbird is a historical novel by Stephen P. Kiernan. Published in 2015 by William Morrow, the novel centers around a hospice nurse struggling to take care of two wounded men, one of whom helps the other overcome harrowing memories of war. Kiernan is a critically acclaimed writer who focuses on human relationships and the internal struggles caused by warfare. Before turning to novel writing, Stephen worked as a journalist for many years. He’s best known for his debut, Last Rights, about palliative care. He once served on the Vermont Legislative Committee on Pain and Palliative Care.

The main character is Deborah Birch. She’s worked as a hospice nurse for a very long time, and she prides herself on having endless patience and compassion. Her husband, Michael, is in Iraq on duty, and he’s been gone for a long time. She’s drained after working long hours, even if she enjoys her job. However, when she gets home, her day only gets harder.

Michael’s returned home from Iraq, but he’s badly wounded mentally. Although he doesn’t need physical care, he suffers from constant anxiety, rage, terror and nightmares. He’s suffering from post-traumatic stress, and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. Deborah doesn’t know how to help him, either, especially since she’s so busy at work and tired when she gets home. She feels guilty, but she doesn’t know what else to do. She wants her old husband back, and she’s determined to stick with him until he’s well again.



Deborah’s current patient at the hospice is an elderly man called Barclay. He used to be a history professor and academic expert, but a scandal cost him his career. He’s now dying of liver cancer and he’s lonely. He has one daughter who never bothers visiting him. Deborah does her best to comfort him and be a bright spot in his day, but he’s very bitter and difficult to get on with. It’s tiring for Deborah, but she’s used to all personalities, so it doesn’t stop her trying to be kind to him.

Eventually, Deborah learns that Barclay wrote numerous books about World War II. He specialized in studying Japan and America, and their respective roles in the War. Deborah wonders if Barclay and Michael could have anything in common, but she doesn’t say anything yet. She’s only focused on helping the two of them feel better.

Deborah always puts others before herself. When she gets home at night, she doesn’t talk about her day or how she’s feeling. All she cares about is getting Michael to open up about his emotions. His paranoia and terror make him irritable and reclusive, and it strains their sex life and marriage. After three tours of Iraq, Michael can’t get over the horrors he witnessed.



Deborah eventually learns what happened to Barclay at the college. He fell for a graduate student who plagiarized work, and he took the blame on her behalf. As an academic, he obviously couldn’t continue working with any credibility, and so he gave up on publishing his final book. Details of this book are woven through the novel—a story about a Japanese fighter who soon sees Americans as his friends and not his enemies.

While working with Barclay and hearing his stories, Deborah realizes what she loves about working with these people—they savor life because they don’t take a single moment for granted anymore. Their love of life is infectious, and she appreciates her own life more because of it. In turn, she gets more annoyed at Michael because she feels he’s taking his life for granted and wasting the time he has.

Barclay wants to hear about Deborah’s life, and she tells him about Michael. She realizes that it’s harder to help Michael live than it is to help men like Barclay die. This embitters her more and more until she struggles to talk to Michael at all. Barclay suggests that Deborah get Michael a dog, because it might give him some purpose again and help him get over his fear of dogs at the same time. Deborah’s unsure at first, but she gives in. Michael doesn’t take to the dog at first, but then he starts bonding with it and looking after it. In turn, this gives him courage and more peace of mind.



By the end of The Hummingbird, all three characters realize they have much to learn from one another. All their experiences are equally valid and important, and they find the courage to accept their fates. Kiernan doesn’t offer us a neatly resolved ending—rather, he’s honest about how long it will take to repair a marriage and get Michael feeling well again.

Most of all, Deborah learns a lot about living and dying from Barclay. She learns much about courage, strength and compassion from his stories and from how he dies at peace with everything he did in life.