My Dearest Reader, 

It is a delight to have you here, exploring the pages of this site and the stories waiting to be discovered. I hope you enjoy this captivating six-month experience and beyond, finding yourself moved by the places that have profoundly influenced me.

The inspiration of The Birdsong Letters:

I have always been fascinated by history, particularly how families are shaped by generations of choices. The Birdsong Letters draws inspiration from real places that captivated me both in childhood and as an adult. Growing up in New England, on the beautiful Atlantic coast of Massachusetts, I was drawn to the ocean. For a time during my childhood, I lived in Ipswich, and its Crane Beach has always held a special place in my heart.

After moving to the Pacific Northwest during my teenage years, I felt a constant longing to return—to rediscover the places that shaped me. Twenty years later, it was during a trip to Boston that I first discovered Castle Hill. I was surprised to learn that, despite all my times swimming at Crane Beach as a girl, this mysterious mansion had been perched on a hill, waiting to be discovered.

The Crane Family Letters are inspired by that trip and that place. The mansion was indeed built by industrial magnate Richard T. Crane Jr. and his wife, Florence, completed at the twilight of the Roaring Twenties. But the characters and stories that unfold in The Crane Family Letters are entirely fictional—inspired by a love of history, the real Castle Hill, and my deep fascination with the complexities of generations of women, their choices, and the ways those choices shape a family.

After all, at some point in our lives, we are a daughter, perhaps a mother, and, if we’re lucky, a grandmother—wearing many hats and holding on to stories of our own.

With gratitude,

~Irina

Why Birdsong? Because, like a bird’s song, I believe stories travel across time, carrying the melodies of those who came before us—sometimes offering a warning to their flock, or uplifting us with their sweet notes.