BSI January 2010 selection

The lost specimen of an extinct bird, 18th century love affair, a 20th century treasure hunt, and cryogenically preserved DNA.

Martin Davies’ debut novel, The Conjurer’s Bird, encompasses all of these components and tells a romantic tale which incorporates the real-life disappearance of the “mysterious bird of Ulieta”, a bird collected during Captain Cook's second voyage to the South Seas.

The novel hovers between two main characters and time periods: the 18th century naturalist Sir Joseph Banks and the fictional modern-day John Fitzgerald, a conservationist, taxidermist and researcher of extinct birds.

Davies’ novel manages to address both social issues and gender politics in the 18th and 20th centuries without losing its allure as an enjoyable easy read that will appeal to both men and women. A reader’s guide to The Conjurer’s Bird can be found here.

Fans of Servants of the Map by Andrea Barrett and Easter Island by Jennifer Vanderbes will thoroughly enjoy The Conjurer’s Bird.
For those who might prefer nonfiction treatment of the topics addressed, try Wanderlust: A History of Walking by Rebecca Solnit,  Joseph Banks, a Life by Patrick O'Brian or at websites here, here , here and here.