Birdlands

Anthony McGowan is a constantly developing writer, and this story takes him into yet new territory. It describes how a crow, a jackdaw and a pigeon, all badly wounded in different ways, decide to make a last joint journey to Dump. Reputably populated by angels, this is a fabled haven where exhausted birds can finally live without fear or hunger until their end. But the way there is fraught with danger, from daily starvation to predators out for an easy, even enjoyable kill faced by such poor opposition. But somehow the trio still almost makes it, with the jackdaw alone surviving after being taken in as a pet.

The birds talk and occasionally quarrel like humans as they stick together through thick and mostly thin. As in Russell Hoban’s haunting The Mouse and his Child, another story about an apparently hopeless quest, there is time for some philosophy too. Faced by his likely death the next moment, the jackdaw still has time to muse on ‘the unfathomable darkness of the soul.’ There is more sadness elsewhere as each bird retells their past history. Pages are brought further to life by Keith Robinson’s superb black and white drawings. The author, himself a keen birdwatcher, mixes accurate detail about the day to day struggles faced by birds in the natural world along with the demands of a good story.

So far, so memorable, with plenty of salty dialogue on hand along the way. But there are also moments when a prevailing sense of melancholy slows the narrative down perhaps a little too much for readers looking for something more lively. For those that stay the course though, this three bird’s eye view of the human world that cares so little for them has much to offer.