Review Eva Meijer. Bird Cottage Pushkin Press

Translated from the Dutch by Antoinette Fawcett

The title of the book is taken from the name of a house in Sussex in which the naturalist Len (Gwendolen) Howard lived and wrote from 1938. Howard wrote books on birds, based on years of living with them closely observing their behaviours, Meijer’s work is partly fictional, partly biographical based on Howard’s letters.

Born in the early years of the 20th century to a poet father and depressed mother Howard gave up an early career as a violinist and the possibility of marriage in order to live alone and write about her birds.

This imagining of her life brings to light her struggles to be taken seriously as a naturalist.

Konrad Lorenz’s book in which he describes how he lives with all kinds of animals, is treated far more seriously that mine, probably because he has proper qualifications, writes scientific articles, is a man. Yet his observations are less original than mine. Moreover the birds have freely chosen to live with me whereas Lorenz rears his and so influences their behaviour.

The factual elements of the book are Interesting for observations on animal behaviour such as:

“Darwin’s work on animal intelligence, for example, is regarded as unscientific because it is primarily based on anecdotal evidence. Behaviourism, however, does not properly take account of the fact that many animals behave differently in captivity than when they are free.”

Yet I found some of the dialogue slow moving and unconvincing which may be a result of translation.

“Cook rings the bell. Tea is ready. I go upstairs to put away my violin. Mike is singing in the garden. Ta-da-da, tada.”

There’s not much sense of the history against which the story is set - a brief mention of some suffragettes and force feeding “it must be dreadful”. Gwen recognises a soldier as “one of the chaps Kingsley used to play tennis with”. The second world war gets barely a mention.

Gwen’s character comes across as completely self-absorbed, out of touch with her family -she fails to attend her own father’s funeral – and with the momentous events that shook the world through the first half of the twentieth century. She’s not the most empathetic of characters but obviously the birds like her. I understand that the intention may have been to show that this is what it took to live life on your own terms for a woman. But I do not know if this is the case – I felt I did not know the character any better by the end of the book than at the beginning.

A lovely book for bird lovers and anyone who enjoys a gentle read. The story of Len;who gives up being a professional musician to study birds in a Sussex
cottage, is beautifuly written and compelling. Thoroughly recommended.

Meijer has created a beautifully written imagining of the early life that led to the almost entire (self imposed) isolation of a woman whose research into birds was all consuming. The descriptions are lush and vivid.

There is something melancholy and almost sterile in Gwendolyn dealings with humanity. Shying away from love and affection “Len “ is almost emotionless about human toils and Troubles but caters to every need of the birds in her surrounds. There is an eccentricity and rigidness to the routines that made me idly wonder whether she may have been on the Asperger s spectrum.

Engaging but not a joyous read.

Gwendolen Howard moved from London to Sussex in February 1938. Disenchanted with London life, she left a good career as a violinist to pursue another passion - that of observing birds. Here she lived the rest of her life, in relative solitude, interacting with the garden birds and studying their behaviours.
This is a fictionalised account of a real person. What grabbed my attention from the beginning was the account of her interactions with the birds.
Interspersed with this was the back story Gwendolen's life in London which I didn't find particularly believable. Apparently she had not intention of getting married and was far too emancipating to be tied down to one man and was not going to waste herself on marriage and children. Maybe she did feel that way, but I wasn't really convinced and to be honest, not really interested.
What fascinated me was the rural life, the birds, the interaction. Was it true that she taught a bird to count? Amazing! When the author was focusing on Gwendolen's studies I was enthralled and enchanted. I loved these parts and would have loved it if the whole book had been about this.

Note: I received an advanced readers' copy in exchange for my honest review of this book!

I really enjoyed this book. If you need a lovely and calming book to read before you go to bed, then please buy this book. I really enjoy a slow read covering nature lovers and this fits the bill perfectly. I enjoyed the slow pace of this book and it really got quite emotional at points. Overall, what a lovely and wonderful read that I fully recommend! This book will not be for everyone, but if nature books are your thing, then BUY IT!

A must read for bird lovers.

This gorgeous novel tells the story of Len Howard, the incredible woman who defied convention and chose to dedicate much of her life to her studies at Bird Cottage, where she forms fascinating interspecies bonds with the local avians.

Though the book is technically fiction, Meijer does a wonderful job of blending research on the life of Howard with compelling fiction to round out the novel.

The book will break your heart a bit, multiple times throughout the narrative and particularly at the end, but it’s well worth it for the compelling insight into Howard, her avian companions, and the enthralling ways in which they interact and communicate with one another.

And for those who fret about these things (as I do), the translation of the novel into English is wonderfully done.

This was a fascinating story. Len Howard was an interesting woman living an interesting life anyway - a bohemian existence, not tied down by any man, working as a violinist in an orchestra. She gave it all up to live alone, to observe wild birds (mainly great tits), and to befriend them. She battled developers, the council, and the army to keep her hedges wild and her birds safe. She was obviously a popular wildlife writer, back in the day.

Her observations of birds are presented here, and you really get a feel for her deep, deep bond with them, and her unique understanding of them. She took the study of bird behaviour out of the laboratory - still controversial, I would imagine. She was completely eccentric, and utterly focussed on the needs of the birds, rather than her own. The stories of her tramping through a winter landscape during the war to try and find extra butter for her birds is startlingly odd.

It's gently written, but utterly absorbing.

Thank you NetGalley, for allowing me to read this in exchange for a review.

Review
This is such a lovely, lovely book. I enjoyed it very much. There were highs and lows and some aspects made me feel really quite emotional. It’s a biography, but told as a story and is based on true facts.

Gwendolen (Len) Howard grows up in an outgoing and sociable family that host frequent soirées. At these events, Len would give piano and violin recitals but, desperate to leave home in Wales, she moves to London to become a professional violinist in an orchestra.

Initially, she enjoys London-life and performing, but as the years roll by, she longs for solitude and the company of the little birds that she and her father would often rescue.

Len learns that her father has died and that she is to inherit a quarter share of his estate. This allows her to leave the orchestra and her rented London room and to buy a place of her own in Ditchling, East Sussex. It is perfect for Len to carry out her research on birds. She has the perfect garden and allows them to live in her home.

Len studies the birds, mainly Great Tits, closely. She documents their habits and even teaches one in particular to count. She devotes her life to her research, writing articles and books on her findings and funny stories on the various individual characters and their different personalities. Two particular Great Tits found a place in her heart - Star and her mate Baldhead.

Len lived alone but as a young girl, had fallen in love with family-friend Paul whilst still living in Wales. I believe that she was also attracted to his sister Patricia, though I may have misinterpreted this.

The ending was very sad, to learn that Bird Cottage had been left to the Sussex Naturalists’ Trust on the promise that they would make the house a bird sanctuary. But in fact they sold the house and land and the new occupiers cut down all but one of the trees in the garden. Gone was the relatively safe haven and home to the birds.

I learned so much about Great Tits from reading this book and would recommend it to anyone who has a love of nature and who wants a nice gentle read on life as it used to be.

I rate this book 5 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thanks
Thank you to the author Eva Meyer and publishers Pushkin Press for an advanced copy of this ebook in exchange for an independent review.

I loved this book and read it in two sittings .Len Howard's love of the natural world, especially birds, shines through. Born in 1894 Len became interested in nature through her father. She gave up her career as a professional violinist to buy a small plot of land and Bird Cottage in Sussex where she studied the birds and lived an almost reclusive life. This book is a joy to read and I would highly recommend it.

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to read this book.

Bird Cottage is a quaint look into the life of a lonely, somewhat introverted woman who prefers to spend most of her days studying and writing about the birds around her secluded home in the woods. she is very dedicated and devoted to both the birds and her studies of them and Chase is more than one person from her yard so that they will not be disturbed. If you absolutely love birds then you would probably give this book 4 stars, but otherwise I would give this book 3 stars.

Fascinating book, very well written and well-researched. If you enjoy birds and bird watching, and/or have an affinity for nature and wildlife, you’ll enjoy this book!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Bird Cottage by author Eva Meijer is written about the experiences of Gwendolen Howard (1894 - 5 January 1973) or Len Howard as her pseudonym. Being a bird-watcher myself, this book was very interesting. Eva Meijer used publications and notes from various sources to compile the story about the young Len while she lived with her artistic parents and her adult years as she played violin in the symphony during her London years. At about age 40, Len becomes disappointed in life and decides to leave her career in music and live a solitary life in Ditchling and study the backyard birds she loved. The interaction she developed with the wild birds is amazing. She became so engrossed with observing the birds behaviors, songs, calls, and nesting habits until it seems she became a recluse and withdrew from public other than her neighbor and the agents she used for publishing her books. Len did write two best-sellers based on her notes of observations and living with the birds. I am curious about the notations in Len's writings about the time shortly after Paul left. Bird Cottage is well written, interesting and the way it ended was so appropriate for the character.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I loved this.

As a family we've started feeding the local birds more regularly and are starting to get regular visitors they we recognise. Now I want to go all out!

The gaps between intertwined stories of her human and bird life were just right. I devoured this book, trying to steal a chapter here and there when I could.

This novel fictionalizes and portrays Howard's life through an exploration of her childhood, of her successful career as a violinist and throught the examination of what led her to devote her later years to her passion of birds. Sincere, whimsical, thoroughly researched and, thus, solidly written novel that centers around the ethics of care.

First off the cover is lovely, I'm so happy to say the story inside is too!! While I love feeding and watching birds myself, I was unsure how interesting a book about it would be. It was actually very fascinating, quirky and moving. I enjoyed it completely and think a wide variety of my reader friends would like it too.

Well, after all the dark stuff I've recently read, Bird Cottage was a welcome change of pace.
The story tells of (Gwendolen) Len's life, from her family home life as a child, her change into adulthood and her life changing decision to go to Bird cottage. A fiercely dedicated naturalist, she opens her home and life to the birds surrounding her.
It's a steady paced read, sometimes a bit melancholic and nostalgic. To be honest, after finishing this book, I found myself reflecting on my own life and family. (I don't think this was the author's aim, but it's what I got from it, and I loved it!). A heartfelt and warming read, it was the perfect tonic to clear my mind and slow down. Lovely!
Thank you to the author, the publisher and netgalley for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Gwendolen ‘Len’ Howard (1894-1973) was a woman of two great passions, birds and music. Her observations of bird watching were published in various periodicals and two books.

In 1938, Len Howard moves from London to a little house in Sussex, which she later calls Bird Cottage. There, she observes birds and gains their trust, thus creating a special bond.

The story shifts between present time to when she was a child and later an adult. It is also intertwined with stories about birds, which “have their origin in Howard’s own anecdotes in Birds as Individuals and Living with Birds.”

Wales, 1900. Len’s father brings home a small bird that has fallen from the nest. And this is the beginning of Len’s journey with the birds. Throughout the years, she collects more birds and goes bird-watching with her father.

The story gives a glimpse of her rich family, mother who is occupied with organizing the soirees and managing everyone. At her parties Len also plays her talents on violin. It seems as the parents are struggling with life. Father, who is a poet and struggles more and more to create something that would satisfy him. “Since the accident Mother has started drinking in the afternoons again. Father, however, has stopped.”

Her passion for music takes her to London, where she joins orchestra. But she misses the birds and to fill the gap, she takes long walks from her lodgings in order to observe birds.

It is a story of an incredible woman who pursues her two biggest passions, playing violin and observing birds. Her journey of bird-watching takes her from her passion through her research and being rejected by magazines for her articles as not being scientific enough to selling in the tens of thousands of her books worldwide.

The read is quick, but at the same time it’s very rich, textured with Len’s talents and dedications. Beautifully imagined and written. For those who appreciate nature and simple life, this might be a treasure read.

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Bird Cottage is a poetic, meditational sort of literary fiction novel. It explores the life Len Howard, a real woman who set aside her busy life as a professional violinist in London to live among and study birds in Sussex. In her time, she was a bestselling author, and also scorned as a witch-like recluse and not a genuine scientist because of her gender and lack of degrees.

The writing here is a joy to read. I encountered many turns of phrase I wish to absorb as my own. I related strongly to Len and could well understand why she came to prefer her home filled with birds over the company of humans. I think the mood of this book will linger with me a while yet.

A compelling story about a real-life naturalist, Gwendolen, or Len, Howard, born in 1894, who at the age of 40 gave up her life in London as a successful violinist and hid herself away in a cottage in the English countryside, devoting the rest of her life to the study of birds. This was no sentimental attachment but a serious study of the lives and habits of the birds that inhabited her garden, and she wrote two bestselling books as well as a number of articles. She was never fully accepted by the scientific community as her “experiments” weren’t rigorous enough, they objected, based as they were merely on her own experience and observations. I found Len a fascinating character and enjoyed finding out about her. The fictionalised account is sympathetic and feels very real and has been written with obvious empathy and understanding. I did find some of the “bird” passages repetitive and dull at times – but then my interest in birds is pretty minimal. Nevertheless, it’s a gentle and absorbing read and I’m sure many bird enthusiasts will now be keen to find Len’s books. I hope publishers are listening.

This book was available as a "Read Now" selection via Net Galley from Pushkin Press and was published in 2018. The subject matter intrigued me as I had never heard of this woman Len Howard who had made a radical decision to leave her position as a violinist in London and move to remote spot in Sussex where she could devote her life to studying birds.
The construction of the fictionalized account of her life moves between her early childhood in Wales through adulthood in London and her life at Bird Cottage as she gets to know and live with birds. She goes on to write many articles and from that interest then books.
Her family life was interesting, her dedication to her violin was as well, but her decision to act on changing her life dramatically based on her love of birds from childhood was unique.

This is a good book for lovers of nature...is sometimes melancholy and slow paced.