Darwin is a young, attractive, and lost gravedigger who has recently moved to the Trinidadian metropolis of Port Angeles in an attempt to make his fortune. He is persuaded that the father he never met may be waiting for him somewhere among these busy streets despite being estranged from his mother and the Rastafari ideology she taught him. Yejide's mother is passing away in a dilapidated home on a hill where the city and the rainforest meet. Also, she is leaving Yejide with a legacy that includes the ability to communicate with the deceased. The women in Yejide's family are both human and not because they are descended from corbeau, a species of black bird that migrates to the east at dusk and carries the souls of the deceased with it. Darwin and Yejide both have something that the other needs. Their destinies are intertwined, and they will find one another in the sprawling, ancient cemetery at the heart of the island, where trouble is brewing... Rich with magic and wisdom, When We Were Birds is an exuberant masterpiece that conjures and mesmerises on every line. Ayanna Lloyd Banwo weaves an unforgettable story of loss and renewal, darkness and light; a triumphant reckoning with a grief that runs back generations and a defiant, joyful affirmation of hope.