LoveReading Says
Guilefully crafted, Louise Doughty’s A Bird in Winter oozes storytelling sophistication. A searing, compelling thriller, it reels with the tension of a woman on the run, with a moving ending that might just cause the eyes to well and the heart to swell.
Like her father before her, Birdy, the name Heather’s father gave her as a child, joined the secret service after a career as a soldier. In the Service, she quickly rose through the ranks because she preferred the less glamorous aspects of the work: “the bureaucracy that supports the action.” After decades’ devotion to the job, having recently joined a new team that’s investigating dirty spies, Birdy leaves a meeting and goes on the run.
Set on always staying one step ahead, Birdy is a mistress of multiple identities. She travels north to a place from her past, but muses: “I was crazy to come here after all this time. What made me think the past would be waiting for me, just because I needed it as I fled from the present? Wasn’t that the kind of solipsism that made me so bad at relationships before? The past is dead. I hate everybody. I hate myself most of all.”
While A Bird in Winter boasts all the distrust, betrayal, paranoia, and sense of closing in you might desire of a spy-themed thriller, it’s a whole lot more besides. As imminent danger ramps up, Doughty skilfully interweaves in-the-now action with her character’s deeper emotional journey — loneliness, regrets, and the unexpected unravelling of a life. This is one classy, compelling read.
Joanne Owen
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A Bird in Winter Synopsis
OVER HALF A MILLION COPIES OF APPLE TREE YARD SOLD
'Psychologically acute. Terrific.' Daily Mail
'A page-turning read. Kept me reading well past bedtime!' VAL McDERMID
'Pacey and propulsive.' Guardian
'A rare combination of elegance and unbelievable tension . . . Utterly brilliant.' Joanna Cannon
'Gripping.' Marie Claire
The latest from the Number One Sunday Times Bestselling author Louise Doughty
Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, one she's prepared for. But nothing could prepare her for what will happen next.
As Bird tries to work out who exactly is on her trail, she must also decide who - if anyone - she can trust. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?
Readers are gripped by A Bird in Winter:
***** 'Bird is a character who will stay with me for a long time.'
'***** As good as Apple Tree Yard, it was impossible to put this book down.'
***** 'Cleverly plotted and full of thought provoking situations and twists.'
***** 'If you like strong female leads that aren't perfect, then you will devour this.'
***** 'A beautiful, intricately plotted, and intriguing narrative.'
About This Edition
About Louise Doughty
Louise Doughty is the author of seven novels, including the Top Ten bestseller Apple Tree Yard. Her sixth novel, Whatever You Love, was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award and longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has also won awards for radio drama and short stories, along with publishing one work of non-fiction, A Novel in a Year, based on her popular newspaper column. She is a critic and cultural commentator for UK and international newspapers and broadcasts regularly for the BBC. She is a former judge of the Man Booker Prize, was Chair of Judges for last year’s Desmond Elliott Award, and a judge for the 2015 Costa Book of the Year Award. She lives in London.
Author photo © Charlie Hopkinson
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