Spanning forty years and two continents, Lost Birds weaves a tale of Irene Matas and her friends, who arrive as children in Chicago after the Second World War and begin to puzzle out what it means to be American. These interconnected stories follow the residents on Talman Street who fled the Soviet takeover of their country. While the parents, sick with nostalgia and grief for their lost homeland, cling to their old ways, their conflicted children are torn between allegiance to their parents and the bright appeal of America.
As Irene and her restless friends come of age in the sixties, they begin to grow beyond their close but insular neighborhood, but still feel drawn to their past.
When after many years, the impossible happens--the Iron Curtain finally falls--some return to visit relatives only to find their country ravaged by the Soviets. Irene returns to find something she never expected.