{"product_id":"bird-cottage-isbn-9781782273950","title":"Bird Cottage","description":"\u003cb\u003eA novel based on the true story of a remarkable woman, her lifelong relationship with birds and the joy she drew from it\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLen Howard was forty years old when she decided to leave her London life and loves behind, retire to the English countryside and devote the rest of her days to her one true passion: birds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMoving  to a small cottage in Sussex, she wrote two bestselling books, astonishing the world with her observations on the tits, robins, sparrows and other birds that lived nearby, flew freely in and out of her windows, and would even perch on her shoulder as she typed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis moving novel imagines the story of this remarkable woman's decision to defy society's expectations, and the joy she drew from her extraordinary relationship with the natural world.\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Society of Authors Vondel Prize\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Bewitching... will make you want to throw away your travel pass and move to a remote cottage... Read it to de-stress' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e-\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Lady\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A convincing account of total dedication and self-belief, and there's beauty and joy in Len's strange life... entertaining and thought-provoking’ - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e‘Truly original... There's a sense of birdlike lightness and agility about this episodic, elliptical novel’ - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e‘The author's fluid, seemingly weightless prose is perfectly matched to the birds she describes... This beautiful creation will be a source of great pleasure for birders and readers alike’ - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCountry Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e‘A delightful, poignant tale’ - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaga Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e‘A celebration of a life spent immersed in nature’ - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTown \u0026amp; Country\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eIn this perfect match of writer and subject, Eva Meijer brilliantly evokes   the precious, vibrant and complex society Len Howard shared with songbirds at   her cottage in Sussex. This beautiful novel is haunted by loss -- of   individual birds, as well as the spectre of species collapse, and the   vanishing of entire life worlds. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e-\u003c\/i\u003eSue Donaldson, author of \u003ci\u003eZoopolis\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'I tend my herd and flock by day so I have to read into the night; I cannot put it down' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e-\u003c\/i\u003eRosamund Young, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Secret of Life of Cows\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eEva Meijer is a Dutch author, artist, singer, songwriter and philosopher.\u003ci\u003eBird Cottage\u003c\/i\u003e is her first novel to be translated into English, has been nominated for the BNG and Libris prizes in the Netherlands and is being translated into several languages. Her non-fiction book \u003ci\u003eWhen Animals Speak\u003c\/i\u003e has also been translated into English. Eva Meijer was awarded the Halewijn Prize in 2017 for all the books she has written so far.Prologue\u003cbr\u003e 1965\u003cbr\u003e Jacob flies swiftly into the house, calls to me, and then immediately\u003cbr\u003e flies out again. He rarely makes a fuss about things, and\u003cbr\u003e never flies very far from the nest once his babies have hatched.\u003cbr\u003e He usually visits the bird table a few times in the morning, and\u003cbr\u003e then stays close to the wooden nesting box on the birch tree.\u003cbr\u003e He is a placid bird, large for a Great Tit, and a good father.\u003cbr\u003e I follow him out of doors and hear the machine even before\u003cbr\u003e I’ve left the garden. I run clumsily on clogs that almost slip off\u003cbr\u003e my feet. No. This can’t be happening. Not that hedge. Not\u003cbr\u003e in the springtime. But a stocky man is trimming the hedge\u003cbr\u003e with one of those electric hedge-cutter things. He can’t hear\u003cbr\u003e me through the racket. I squeeze between the hedge and the\u003cbr\u003e machine. The noise drowns out everything, crashing in waves\u003cbr\u003e over me, boring through my body.\u003cbr\u003e It gives him a shock to see me there, suddenly in front of\u003cbr\u003e him. He switches the thing off and removes his ear-protectors.\u003cbr\u003e “What’s up, missus?”\u003cbr\u003e “You mustn’t trim this hedge. It’s full of nests. Most of the\u003cbr\u003e eggs have already hatched.” My voice is shriller than usual.\u003cbr\u003e It feels as if someone is strangling me.\u003cbr\u003e “You’ll have to speak to the Council about it.” He turns\u003cbr\u003e the machine on again.\u003cbr\u003e No. Twigs jab at my back. I move to the left when he\u003cbr\u003e moves, and then to the right.\u003cbr\u003e “Get out of my way, please.”\u003cbr\u003e “If you want to trim this hedge, you’ll have to get rid of\u003cbr\u003e me first.”\u003cbr\u003e He sighs. “I’ll start work on the other side, then.” He holds\u003cbr\u003e the contraption at the ready, more as a shield than a weapon.\u003cbr\u003e But that’s where the Thrushes are, with their brownspeckled\u003cbr\u003e breasts. I shake my head. “No. You really mustn’t.”\u003cbr\u003e “Look, missus, I’m just doing my job.”\u003cbr\u003e “What is your boss’s phone number?”\u003cbr\u003e He gives me a name and the County Council number.\u003cbr\u003e I keep an eye on him until he has left the lane. He’s probably\u003cbr\u003e off to another hedge now.\u003cbr\u003e Cheeping and chirping everywhere. The parent birds\u003cbr\u003e are nowhere to be seen, but the babies make their presence\u003cbr\u003e known. The parents will return and with any luck they won’t\u003cbr\u003e have had too great a shock. I hurry to the house, sweat running\u003cbr\u003e down my back. I don’t even pause to take off my cardigan.\u003cbr\u003e “May I speak to Mr Everitt, please? It’s urgent.”\u003cbr\u003e While I’m waiting for him, Terra comes and perches beside\u003cbr\u003e me. She can always tell when something is wrong. Birds are\u003cbr\u003e much more sensitive than we are. I’m still panting a little.\u003cbr\u003e “Mr Everitt, I appreciate your coming to the telephone.\u003cbr\u003e Len Howard speaking, from Ditchling. This morning I discovered,\u003cbr\u003e to my great horror, that one of your workmen was\u003cbr\u003e trimming the hedges. It’s the nesting season! I’m making a\u003cbr\u003e study of these birds. My research will be ruined.”\u003cbr\u003e Mr Everitt says I have to send in a written request to have\u003cbr\u003e the hedge-cutting postponed so that the Council can decide\u003cbr\u003e on the matter. He can’t make that decision himself. I thank\u003cbr\u003e him very much and ask for a guarantee that there’ll be no\u003cbr\u003e further hedge-trimming till then.\u003cbr\u003e “I’ll try my best,” he says. “They do usually listen to me.”\u003cbr\u003e He coughs, like a smoker.\u003cbr\u003e I know the Great Tits would immediately warn me if\u003cbr\u003e they came back to trim the hedges, but for the rest of the day\u003cbr\u003e I feel very agitated. Sometimes the wind sounds like hedgetrimming;\u003cbr\u003e sometimes I’m tricked by a car in the distance.\u003cbr\u003e Jacob also remains restless. And that’s not like him at all. He’s\u003cbr\u003e old enough—at least six—to know better.\u003cbr\u003e I start writing my letter. They must listen to me.","brand":"Pushkin Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304723960037,"sku":"NP9781782273950","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781782273950.jpg?v=1767722637","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/bird-cottage-isbn-9781782273950","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}