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

They are trying to trim the hedges where the bird nests are. Gwen loves birds and studies them . I love birds but I couldn't get interested in the characters or events

Jan 23, 2020
Samantha rated it
it was amazing




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.

I actually requested this one from Netgalley in English, not realising that the original was in my mother tongue, Dutch. I found the Dutch version, so I decided to read that instead.

Bird Cottage is about a woman who moves to the English countryside to observe birds in her backyard. She manages to tame them and they even end up living in her house. The bird parts are mixed with other parts of her life, and those were a little less interesting. I really enjoyed reading about the birds though, especially because I read it while watching the birds in my own backyard.

I guess what I was expecting from Bird Cottage - a book with "bird" in the title and pictures of birds on the cover - was a story about birds. This was not a story about birds. Bird Cottage is a story about a woman who loves birds and the environment in which they live in. It's a great premise, honestly, but this book wasn't what I was looking for.

I thought that the events in the story that take our protagonist (who's based off a real woman, by the way) away from the birds and her yard were particularly boring. After the exciting first chapter, I didn't want her to go away from the baby bird she's trying to save or the bush that it was in. Chapter 1 was what I wanted the rest of the novel to be like... and it wasn't. Bird Cottage addresses family issues and such, which just wasn't interesting.

Overall, Bird Cottage needed more birds and less problems from our main characters.

The woman and her birds. Beautiful but very slow literary fiction.

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC.

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.

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 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.

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!

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.)

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.

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.

This unique book is a curious mixture of a real biography and a fictional life story. I enjoyed the first three quarters of the life story, but by the final quarter I found her to be quite an unpleasant person, who put the lives of birds before people. The earlier part of Len’s life, particularly in the orchestra, and the family dynamics, are beautifully written. The strands of notes on bird activity will be interesting to those who enjoy bird watching, but didn’t really do it for me. I would buy this book for friends who are true twitchers.

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

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!

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!

A refreshing, unpretentious story translated from the Dutch about one extraordinary woman, and her passion for birds and nature - sometimes at the expense of the humans around her, though the book's plain, non-judgmental telling makes it clear that this approach to life is as much of an option as anything else. I will be buying this as gifts for the nature-lovers in my life.

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.