A servant attempts to poison the aged and despised King, and the King's only daughter despairs of life in the castle. She longs to return to a town she once visited, but she is forbidden to step outside of the castle walls. Her only hope falls on an absent-minded servant hired to do construction. With his help, she hopes to recapture the freedom she so briefly felt. With a fairy-tale-like setting, combined with modern themes of isolation, obligation, and longing, Birdhouse is a magical debut graphic novel from Vernon White.