Author(s): Louise Doughty

General Fiction

The latest from the writer of BBC smash hit drama Crossfire, and Number One Sunday Times Bestseller Louise Doughty 'Louise Doughty leads her unnerved readers into dark territory.' - HILARY MANTEL 'Doughty is a brilliant storyteller who knows how to build suspense to breaking point.' - The Times

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, and one she's prepared for - but nothing could prepare her for what will happen next. As she flees north using multiple disguises, Bird has to work out who exactly is on her trail, and who - if anyone - she can trust. Like many people, she has fantasised about escape for a long time, but now it's actually happening. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?

Schrödinger's Books' Review:

Heather Berriman, if that indeed is her real name, drops everything and goes on the run, leaving Birmingham and heading north, in this new novel by Louise Doughty, best known for Apple Tree Yard. Fans of the TV programmes Hunted and Tracked will find much to enjoy as this novel follows a middle-aged woman evading unknown and unseen pursuers. The stakes are high. It’s gritty and realistic stuff about what needs to be done to survive.

Heather works for an unnamed spy agency, and the machinations of why she has to flee are complex, as these things usually are. The action slows as we get her backstory and ins and outs of her working life. Heather is the ‘Bird’ of the title, a name her father used to call her. Bird implies someone fragile and vulnerable, but Heather is resourceful and smart, using her spy training to her advantage.

The novel’s singular focus on a woman alone means the reader is deep in Heather’s thoughts and take on what’s happening much of the time, sometimes repeatedly.

A Bird in Winter is an enjoyable read from this talented author who certainly knows how to maintain suspense and create a page-turner.

- Shani Naylor