Wings and Windows by Keishi Ando is an endearing story that brings three lost souls together. Kyle, a glazier, has grown used to a solitary existence after a number of traumas in his earlier years. At his workshop he is often visited by Mia, a 17-year-old who has recently lost her mother and is being bullied at school and is desperate for escape. Kyle’s workshop is overlooked by Emilia’s house. Emilia is isolated, with a manipulative partner in an unhappy marriage. The three characters are joined together by the mysterious and magical Angel, who seems sent to bring all three characters closer to happiness, but will they be able to do what’s needed in order to be free? We gradually learn more and more about each of the characters, the reasons for Kyle’s solitude, the risks Mia is willing to take to escape, the restrictions placed on Emilia by her partner to keep her isolated. There’s ups and downs throughout the storyline. I enjoyed the euphoric “girls trip” shared by Angel, Emilia and Mia as they find kinship in each other. With some slight supernatural elements, Wings and Windows is a lovely, bittersweet story and my takeaway from it is it’s never too late to try to change your life.
In one small town, a miracle entwines the fates of three strangers. After a series of early traumas, Kyle, a glazier, has grown used to a solitary existence. That changes the night a mysterious guest appears in his home. Their tentative friendship could offer him a path to healing—or rip open wounds he’s tried hard to forget. As Emilia approaches her fortieth birthday, she’s never felt so lost. Stuck in a loveless marriage, her guilty pleasure is watching her neighbour work in his glazier’s workshop. As he gently cuts and sets panes of glass, Emilia wishes there was a way to mend the broken pieces of a human heart. Close by, 17-year-old Mia has learned that being different isn’t easy. In fact, it’s torturous. Bullied relentlessly, she forms a radical plan to find freedom—along with someone who will help her escape. But danger is circling, and a devastating betrayal awaits. Secrets and destinies collide as three lonely souls search for belonging and discover that even in life’s darkest moments, magic is possible.
