Journal Entry 1 by cats-eye from Bishop Auckland, County Durham United Kingdom on Thursday, May 18, 2006

Received for review 18/05/06. ARC trade paperback, official release August 2006

The haunting story of a woman tormented by her own powers of clairvoyance and healing.

TBR, then RES for a trade w/ tangledthreads 

Journal Entry 2 by cats-eye from Bishop Auckland, County Durham United Kingdom on Tuesday, June 06, 2006

“The Bird Woman” is a richly detailed and emotional novel about a woman facing up to her past, her heritage, and her fears. Ellen is married and living in Belfast, drifting from day to day and attempting to move on from a painful past which includes the death of her baby and a subsequent nervous breakdown. When she meets Liam, a visiting sculptor from the South, she experiences a strong sense of connection and exiles herself in order to be with him. As Ellen attempts to fit in to the isolated rural life that is Liam’s, she finds that her Northern Irish Presbyterian upbringing is a barrier between them that is exacerbated by the appearance of her strange healing powers. Ellen soon realises she is unable to suppress her powers and struggles to come to terms with what it means to be a healer, and all the ethical and religious questions that it raises. During this time she befriends Catherine, an ex-nun and friend of Liam’s, who becomes a source of support and advice until a terrible secret is revealed that threatens Ellen and Liam’s marriage.
When Ellen is summoned home at the request of her dying mother, she boards a bus alone and begins a journey that will take her both further away from and closer to Liam than she has been since they first met. It is only through this distance and the events that occur when she arrives back in Belfast that she begins to question her choices and actions, and to see how they have affected those that she loves the most.

“The Bird Woman” skilfully addresses topics such as estranged families, loyalty, beliefs, and the Irish Troubles without becoming overly sentimental or apologetic. In this, her second novel, Kerry Hardie has written a haunting and atmospheric character-driven account that pulls you into the deep end.

***********

Personally, I felt like there what an undercurrent or storyline that I just wasn't "getting"...maybe because I don't know as much as I probably should historically about the Irish Troubles.

I'll soon be posting this to tangledthreads - enjoy! 

Journal Entry 3 by tangledthreads from Derby, Derbyshire United Kingdom on Saturday, June 10, 2006

Received with many thanks (your slightly delayed trade will be in the post on Monday - I promise!). The synopsis of this one sounds fascinating, and slightly reminiscent of 'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel (which I read and loved earlier this year). I suspect, though, that like cats-eye, the political aspects of the storyline may go over my head a little as I am not best known for my knowledge of current affairs... 

Journal Entry 4 by tangledthreads at on Thursday, March 17, 2011

Released 1 yr ago (3/18/2011 UTC) at

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Apologies for long(!) delay in journaling this book - I took a BookCrossing break for several years. I had kept it a long time without getting around to reading it, so I left this book in Derby's BookCrossing Zone, the Flowerpot pub, a couple of years ago.