In this "vivid…lovely and inviting" (The New York Times) coming-of-age memoir-the "best piece of nature writing since H Is for Hawk" (Neil Gaiman)-a young man saves a baby magpie as his estranged father is dying, only to find that caring for the bird saves him.
This is a story of two men who could talk to birds-but were completely incapable of talking to each other.
A father who fled from his family in the dead of night, and the jackdaw he raised like a child.
A son obsessed with his absence-and the young magpie that fell into his path and refused to fly away.
This is a story about the crow family and human family; about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. Charlie Gilmour lives in South London with his wife and daughter. "With his English accent and languid yet expressive voice, author/narrator Charlie Gilmour is charming company. His deep, abiding love for his family is obvious. He adores his wife, Yana-he sounds almost amazed by her-and he finds purpose and healing in caring for their accidental pet, a magpie they name Benzene (for the industrial site where they found the little chick). Although Gilmour describes his childhood as loving and safe, he carries emotional scars from his father, Heathcote Williams, having abandoned him as a baby and having rebuffed Gilmour's periodic efforts to build a relationship. Gilmour dives deep into Heathcote's childhood and failed marriages to face his own mental health challenges. In an odd synchronicity, Heathcote once adopted a jackdaw. In both word and performance, FEATHERHOOD is reflective, poetic, and full of wry bird moments."
