Birdcage Girl

Since her father’s death, eighteen-year-old Ashlyn has spent her days locked up inside a birdcage contraption built by her overprotective mother. She dreams of freedom, but can’t let go of the emotional ties that bind her to home. When Ashlyn falls ill, the town physician comes to the house – their first visitor in years. As the doctor and his handsome butler work together to strengthen Ashlyn’s body and mind, she discovers her own reason for leaving the cage. Her journey takes her through a smokestack city filled with corrupt doctors, mechanical wonders, orphans with metal bones, and into the mystery of her parents’ pasts.

 

There's a land beyond the front door
Near where the bike leans
And nobody sees
It's like a good dream
In the dark you hold me
And we go slow dancing
Like we're in a movie
And nobody knows
And nobody sees
The land near where the bike leans" 
 - Lisa Mitchell, "The Land Beyond the Front Door."

Just like any self-indulgent writer, I had to put together an imaginary cast, haha.

If you have an Pinterest account, you can take a peek at some images that have inspired me while working on Birdcage Girl:

(To be posted)