Bird Cottage

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

First off I thought this was a work of fiction, I had no idea Len was a real person. Now I must read all of her writings and books.

This reads like a lovely piece of fiction, and it is in part a fictionalized story about the life of Len Howard. The author takes some historical fact and works up a fine tale. I think I highlighted about 2/3 of the book. It reads wonderfully.

Admittedly at first there was a bit of shock that was unexpected, the story is not for the faint hearted as some of the bird tales are not happy ending stories. Parts of this just broke my heart.

What a beautifully written book! I was hooked on this book from the first page. It was a wonderful story and the author brought the book to life with her words. If you like birds, you will love this book. Thank you Pushkin Press via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The book covers when Len was a little girl in a Wales, then a violinist in London, and then she moves to a small cottage in Sussex. Interesting view of her love of music and birds. Her observations and point of view is intriguing and if you love nature you will love reading her story. The only thing I disliked was the jumping back and forth so much. Much prefer a straightforward timeline in stories. Still though, highly recommend this book.

In this strange little novel translated from the Dutch by Antionette Fawcett we are introduced to Len Howard. Len was a real woman born at the turn of the 20th century and she lived her early life in South Wales. She developed an interest in birds from very early on and apparently watched them, rescued them and kept her own notebooks compiled of general notes and “stories”. But in her “real” life as a daughter of a well heeled professional family, expectations of behaviour for a girl from a “respectable” family were laid on her. Her mother regarded the family as “cultured” so Len studied both the piano and violin and was expected to perform (at home). Her requests to go to Music College were blocked until she came of age at 21. She then joined the London Orchestra of a family friend and, in spite of the war, developed her life there. Increasingly in the turmoil of the city not just her music but her study of birds brought her comfort. When her father died, inheritance allowed her to buy a cottage in Ditchling in Sussex where she lived for the rest of her life. A life that was centred on studying “her” birds – primarily great tits.
The book falls into two parts, the first Meijer’s fictional account of her family, her life, in the orchestra and then in her village community. As a woman of a certain generation the depiction of expectations on a young woman of her class are painfully shown. The vagaries of living in a family with damaged or “eccentric” others are quietly nudged into the picture. Her own ways of dealing with life that are certainly not of the common run are hinted at sympathetically. As a woman who has not studied science her writings on her studies were not taken seriously in “academic” or “expert” circles; but with earlier articles in country magazines after the Second World War she will be persuaded to write books on her birds that then developed an international readership. But she also led the way in identifying early threats to bird numbers at that time and trying to set up protective areas. As she aged she became more isolated, was considered eccentric and her conservation importance became overlooked.
But interleaved with this main tale are “episodes” cleverly derived from her research notes and books on her favourite Great Tits - mostly a female “Star” - in her garden and cottage. She could identify individuals and named them, she followed their lives and breeding patterns, researched their song and tested their intelligence (considerable, variable but she believed greater than most birds) helped by her willingness to allow them into her cottage.
If you are one of the many people who take pleasure in simple bird watching in your garden no doubt these sparky and visual vignettes will resonate with you. If you have a deeper interest in conservation or how the movement developed this is a subject lesson. The claims of academic ownership of specialist knowledge or expertise is one that still runs, but now set against the awareness of long term studies by others that provide the bedrock of our current understanding of whole species survival and risks. But of course Len was interested in the birds as individuals and “characters” too and that is engaging.
Melding the two types of presentations is quite unusual and it is possible that not all readers will appreciate what is offered, perhaps wanting more of either half. But nonetheless I found this is a compelling book and a good introduction to an exceptional woman who has previously faded from history.

This wasn’t what I expected, but I enjoyed it all the same. A delightful, captivating book. An exploration of emotion and relationships and lots of birds!

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. Captivating read. I loved the jumping back and forth in timelines. I found her observations of music and nature very interesting.

This was a beautiful, very well written novel that captured my imagination. I loved Len and all of the stories. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!

Such a lovely book with interesting stories and birds. Very emotional. Loved it!
Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good story. It blurred the lines between fact and fiction. I think the author did such a beautiful job of capturing the truth in this story. I love birds so much, so this story will always hold a special place in my heart.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

So beautiful. As I get older, retreating to the country and spending more time in nature appeals to me more and more. This book resonated with me big time.

What a beautiful, serene, inspiring story! The Bird Cottage is based on an actual person, and her patience, care, and love for the wild birds who reside in her yard. Written in a calm and descriptive manner, the setting comes alive for you.
Len Howard isn’t impressed with people. She really doesn’t care to follow the expectations of her generation: grow up, marry, have kids. Len is independent, quiet, and really not affected by what others think. When she turns forty, she does the one thing that she knows will make her happy. She moves to Sussex, buys a small old cottage, and begins her study of the birds that live around her. Actually writing two very successful books, she was able to study and explain habits of wild birds while they lived freely in their natural habitat.
This is such a peaceful and endearing read, especially if you enjoy birds. It’s so refreshing to read about people who follow their dream and resist the forces and expectations of society.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for making it available.)

Lovely, escapist fun! This would have been the perfect quarantine read - I almost wish I'd saved it to read now, but will have to settle for recommending it to everyone who hasn't yet been to Bird Cottage!

Bird Cottage by Eva Meijer is a novel based on the life and research of Gwendolen Howard, a British naturalist and musician. It fictionalizes the journey of a woman who pursued her passion for music and birds at a time when women’s ambitions were throttled.

Gwendolen was known for her amateur studies on the behavior of birds that were published in various periodicals and two books under her pseudonym, Len Howard. After building a successful musical career as a violinist, she left London at the age of forty, to settle in the English countryside and study birds. Coming from a bird-loving family, this was an inevitable progression for Howard. She wanted to study the behavior of birds when they were free. Her devotion towards her passion reflected in her relationship with the birds. The tits, robins, sparrows, and the other birds that lived in the garden of her cottage would fly in and out of the windows of her cottage freely and would even perch on her shoulders and play with her.

Meijer weaves biographical facts with fiction to produce a unique novel. While several passages about the behavior of the birds have their origin in anecdotes penned by Howard herself in her two best-selling books, much of her life has been imagined by Meijer. This provides an insight into Howard’s solitary life, her sensitive nature, and her fascination towards birds. Her relationship with Charles, the crow, during her childhood is particularly endearing and paves the way for her future studies on birds.

Bird Cottage is as much a book on birds, as it is a book of sounds. Howard notes the various sounds such as the cheery whistle of the robin, the soft single notes of the tits, and the chirrup notes of the sparrows in her anecdotes, which are aptly described by Meijer as well. I, especially, liked the counting games Howard played with the birds to demonstrate they are highly intelligent creatures. Howard’s meticulous description of the birds she studied is worth reading. In due course of time, Star and Baldhead—Howard’s most favorite Great tit companions—became my favorite too.

Besides bringing Howard’s avian companions to life, Meijer also describes the claustrophobic and limiting atmosphere of the twentieth century. The way women’s ambitions were bridled resulting in marriage to be the only logical conclusion of a woman’s life makes Howard’s passion for studying birds more admirable. Although it is sometimes slow-paced, Meijer’s poetic prose with many good phrases peppered throughout the book makes this an engaging read.

Bird Cottage by Eva Meijer is a moving tribute to a woman whose works must not be forgotten. I recommend it to anyone who appreciates a well-written literary fiction novel.

This is one of the most unusual books I have read this year. And I picked it up at a perfect time for me. I just started watching birds this winter. Perhaps that's why this resonated so much with me. I would imagine that Len is a much more interesting person in the book than in real life, but her determination to share her research is admirable.

Bird Cottage Tells the story of Gwendolen ‘Len’ Howard, a violinist in a London orchestra who tires of that life and, inheriting a substantial sum of money, buys an isolated cottage in Sussex and befriends the birds. The book is an intriguing blend of fact and fiction. Howard (1894-1973) was a real person who wrote several books about her interactions with the Great Tits that lived near her home, grew accustomed to her, and became the main focus of her life. Bird Cottage uses some of Len's own writings, describing some of her birds and their behavior, and these sections are particularly delightful; the joy that she takes in watching and describing them shines through these pages.

Interspersed with Howard's own writings is the factionalized account of her life, from the time she was a young child in Wales, living with her arty Edwardian family, performing at "soirées" organized by her parents. Her father, n not very successful poet, would recite some of his own poetry, Len would play violin, and other poets or artists were invited to join in. Though from the outside The Howard home appears, well, if not exactly "happy" then at least successful, Len cannot wait to leave, and does so at the first opportunity. She goes to London to study music and play in an orchestra.
These sections, punctuated by the Great War, the Great Depression, and World War Two, are marked by melancholy; there is nothing wrong with Len's life, exactly ,but it's not entirely right, either. Although she has opportunities, she does not seem to make the solid connections with others that most of us so desire. And so, to Sussex and her birds.
Bird Cottage is a simple story, on the surface - the path by which Len Howard found her birds. There are deeper aspects to it, however, and the reader is left to piece together the small cuts, frustrations, and fears which lead Len to Sussex. A lovely, meditative book.

A lovely book a book I read in two days.The love of a woman for birds.A woman who leaves her busy city life behind moves to an isolated cottage to devote her life to bird watching. Charming engaging wonderful #pushkinpress #netgalley

Gwendolen Howard is born into a bohemian family at the turn of the century. As a child she is obsessed by two things - her violin and the birds she sees in the welsh countryside. Moving to London to become a professional violinist Len is still drawn to the country and the birds. After her father dies Len buys an isolated cottage in Ditchling and devotes the rest of her life to the study of her garden birds.
Reading this book I did not realise it was based on the true life story of an eccentric but passionate woman. Len is such an engaging character, following her passions to the exclusion of everything else. Even the more shocking aspects of the story are dealt with in a gentle and whimsical way. The writing fits the tone beautifully, Len is a pure soul and her passion shines through. Interspersing the narrative with extracts from her books just makes the story come alive.

Once you realise that some of the Characters such as Jacob are actually the Field & Garden Birds with whom Len Howard , strikes up remarkable & very trusting relationships you see them & their world in a whole different light. The Book is both enchanting & also very informative too, a truly enjoyable read.

I loved this book.

It was about a lady called Gwen who loved birds and music.

The descriptions of the birds are very intriguing. She played the violin and piano.

If you like birds and music then I highly recommend

I loved this book. It had me looking at my chirping garden visitors in a new light. I have always loved birds, they make me feel closer to nature and remind me of the sometimes harshness and wonders of planet earth, so resilient creatures for things so tiny, so I adored this really original book. It was a completely fresh perspective in literature. I highly recommend it, especially for bird and animal lovers!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Pushkin Press and Eva Meijer for my copy. This was a lovely book about the little known bird lover Len Howard, who lived in rural East Sussex in the 1940s to 1960s and developed a close relationship with the wild birds that frequented her garden, especially the great tits. They all had names, personalities and littl quirks. I thought it was amazing how she taught one of them to count, and how tame they were, and lived in nest boxes in her bedroom or roosted in her kitchen at night. An unusual and delightful story.

Bird Cottage is a slower and quieter book but well written and interesting. Enjoyed learning about the main character whom I was previously unfamiliar with.

Bird Cottage is a beautiful celebration of one woman, Len Howard, and her unwavering devotion and passion for wild birds. Len's life (1894-1973) was an extraordinary one made even more exceptional by giving up her career as a gifted violinist to open her home to wild birds so as to study them. Roosting boxes all over the house, birds (great tits more often than not) flying about and settling on her as she does her daily chores. Not a simple existence as knocks on the door and people popping around would set the birds aflutter in fear. So she posted signs discouraging others from venturing too close to her house and her birds. I loved this so much! What a woman. I am keenly touched by her story, told here so wonderfully. A keen bird lover myself I clearly need to up my game. Not sure I could deal with the chaos in my life but relished reading about her findings and introductions to her dearest ones. I still feel the impact of this novel. I cannot believe I've never heard of Len before! Upon finishing it I went in search of the two out of print books she published and bought them. I want to dwell in her world a bit longer and learn more of my feathered friends.

I felt sick at the end upon reading the acknowledgments. What a disturbing turn of events that Sussex Naturalists' Trust, the charity to whom Len bequeathed her home as a bird sanctuary, sold her house and land to someone who felled all the trees, save one oak. Len would have been destroyed by that and with good reason. No more habitats for her precious birds. She deserved better than that.

Eva Meijer’s Bird Cottage is a fictional biography of Gwendolen “Len” Howard (1894-1973), a concert musician and self-educated ornithologist, who gave up her music career and most of her human companionship in her forties, retreating to a cottage in Sussex, England. In defiance of societal norms of the period, which would have had her married and raising children, she lived alone and devoted the remainder of her life to studying and writing about common British birds, largely avoiding visitors because they spoke too loudly and moved too quickly, frightening her bird family.

The novel opens in 1965 as Len encounters a hedge-trimmer hired by the municipal government. As he prepares to attack the hedge bordering her property with his power tools during nesting season, Len’s bird friends sound the alarm, causing her to rush out of the cottage, confront the workman, temporarily drive him away, and launch her campaign to prevent his return before all the baby birds have left their nests.

The story soon shifts backward to 1900 as Len, a small child, accompanies her father to town for ground beef and bird seed intended keep a baby bird alive until it can fly away. Meijer tells Len’s story during various periods of her life, 1911, 1914, 1938, and so on, ending in 1973. From her father, she gains an interest in and love for birds that eventually allows her to use her music ability outside the concert hall.

Throughout the book, Howard’s closest neighbors, the birds, flit in and out of her house, sitting on her head and shoulders, communicating with her, and becoming the family she seemed to prefer to humans. Most readers may come away from the novel largely with an appreciation of Howard’s habit of naming her neighboring birds, her love of living among them, and her abilities to learn from and to teach them, as well as to teach others about them through her writing. Meijer weaves some of that writing into the novel, identifying it with italics.

Drawing not only on Len Howard’s published writing, but also unpublished archival materials and anecdotes provided by Ditchling residents, the village where Bird Cottage is located, the author supplements biographical fact with fiction as needed. In Bird Cottage, Eva Meijer skillfully tells the unusual and sometimes sad story of the eccentric, sometimes feisty, but scholarly woman who gave the world two best-selling books and transcribed their songs into music.

Thanks to NetGalley, Pushkin Press, and Eva Meijer for the review copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for a gifted book of Bird Cottage by Eva Meijer. All opinions are my own.

Len Howard loves playing the violin and studying birds. At the age of 40 she leaves society and settles into "bird cottage" where she spends her days studying bird behavior.

This is a fascinating book for bird lovers. At few times I did get lost due some jumping around in the storyline but I loved this book. The bond and trust between Len Howard and the wild birds is a beautiful story. Anyone who has ever shared their life with a bird knows that it takes a special relationship for a bird to have complete trust in humans.

I loved this quirky little book. It‘s based on a real person, Len Howard, who devotes her life to learning about birds, and believes they should be observed in their natural habitat, not in a lab. She ends up with birds free to come and go from her cottage, but noisy annoying people are less than welcome!

There are novelised aspects, interspersed with extracts from her diaries; utterly charming!