The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love (Love’s Academic)
Professor Beth Pickering first set eyes on Professor Devon Lockley in Spain in 1890, whilst tracking the magical vibrations of the pileated deathwhistler. Beth and her partner, Hippolyta Spiffington-Quirm, are just about to grab the bird, using their helicopter-parasol move, when Devon swoops in and nabs the catch. But not before the two lock eyes and hearts. Now instead of feathers and beaks, the smitten Beth can think only of smooth skin and soft lips whenever she sees him. The announcement for Birder of the Year, with the capture of the prized Caladria albo sacrorum, sets the birders into deadly competition once again, and there can only be one winner.
Setting her novel mostly in England, using slapstick humour and nonstop witticisms, Holton presents a thoroughly unorthodox cast of vividly imagined characters. The magical birds are deadly; their capture is inventive, to say the least; the birders are mad as hatters; and dastardly villains abound. A mad-cap race across England ensues, chasing the elusive little caladrius, and Beth and Devon, realising they are in love, team up when they perceive a plot’s afoot. I couldn’t help but think of an all-grown-up Harry Potter with Hermione, chasing Fantastic Beasts, who seem quite lethargic in comparison to Holton’s thaumaturgic birds. This is a great start to what I hope will be more kooky adventures with equally hilarious and deranged casts.
