murraymint11
New Member
From the back of the book:
“Renowned naturalist Joseph Banks is about to set sail with Captain Cook on a voyage of discovery to the other side of the world. He will encounter many wonders, but none as captivating as the elusive woman with green eyes who haunts the woods near his home.
Two centuries later, John ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald stumbles on a portrait of a woman with curiously striking eyes. Who is she?
Fitz has lost too much, the convictions of his youth, the belief that he would die a famous man – and Gabby, the love of his life. But out of the blue, a call from Gabby has brought it all rushing back, and plunged him into a mystery that at once repels and irresistibly intrigues him. Now, Fitz is in a dangerous race to solve the puzzle of the Conjuror’s Bird. And the woman in the portrait holds the key.”
I really love this book. I am enjoying it in the same way as I did Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian – its pace, the investigation of a mystery involving research in libraries and museums, often a feeling of warmth and cosiness, and the developing relationships between both sets of major characters.
I prefer the present day chapters to those set in the 18th century, but both aspects of the story are engaging, and one story balances the other well.
I know I really like a book when I purposefully slow down my reading; I really don’t want this story to come to an end.
Finally, this quote from Posie Graeme-Evans says it all for me (very eloquently!):
“This book haunts me: I was moved, intrigued and entertained and, with each page turned, I wanted very much to know what was going to happen. Economically and beautifully drawn, the enigmatic delicacy of the characters and the way the stories of the past and the present intersect so teasingly, so elegantly, makes The Conjuror’s Bird a deeply satisfying novel. And, best of all, the layers of the story take one deeper and deeper into the worlds of the past and the present until, in the end, there seems nothing more to discover in the lives of these characters; yet I wanted more. I heartily recommend this book!”
PS. it would make a great film too!
“Renowned naturalist Joseph Banks is about to set sail with Captain Cook on a voyage of discovery to the other side of the world. He will encounter many wonders, but none as captivating as the elusive woman with green eyes who haunts the woods near his home.
Two centuries later, John ‘Fitz’ Fitzgerald stumbles on a portrait of a woman with curiously striking eyes. Who is she?
Fitz has lost too much, the convictions of his youth, the belief that he would die a famous man – and Gabby, the love of his life. But out of the blue, a call from Gabby has brought it all rushing back, and plunged him into a mystery that at once repels and irresistibly intrigues him. Now, Fitz is in a dangerous race to solve the puzzle of the Conjuror’s Bird. And the woman in the portrait holds the key.”
I really love this book. I am enjoying it in the same way as I did Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian – its pace, the investigation of a mystery involving research in libraries and museums, often a feeling of warmth and cosiness, and the developing relationships between both sets of major characters.
I prefer the present day chapters to those set in the 18th century, but both aspects of the story are engaging, and one story balances the other well.
I know I really like a book when I purposefully slow down my reading; I really don’t want this story to come to an end.
Finally, this quote from Posie Graeme-Evans says it all for me (very eloquently!):
“This book haunts me: I was moved, intrigued and entertained and, with each page turned, I wanted very much to know what was going to happen. Economically and beautifully drawn, the enigmatic delicacy of the characters and the way the stories of the past and the present intersect so teasingly, so elegantly, makes The Conjuror’s Bird a deeply satisfying novel. And, best of all, the layers of the story take one deeper and deeper into the worlds of the past and the present until, in the end, there seems nothing more to discover in the lives of these characters; yet I wanted more. I heartily recommend this book!”
PS. it would make a great film too!