This is a work of fiction, but closely informed by what we know of the life of the naturalist Joseph Banks. The narrative flicks between the present day, as our author and his new friend Katya try to discover the whereabouts of one of Banks' own lost discoveries, and the life and times of Banks. Specifically, the novel imagines a love story between him and the shadowy figure of his known-about but unknown mistress and love of his life. I found it an absorbing and believable detective story (until the final unsatisfactory pages),as far as modern times go, and an absorbing and believable narrative as far as the 18th century story goes. Definitely worth reading. ( )

The Conjurer's Bird led me down the path of intertwining tales of nature, exploration, history, and self. Davies story telling is so interesting that I didn't realize until page 188 that I, like the protagonist, did not know a major character's name! This novel is not a thriller as some have stated,nor is it a pressing mystery.

This is a story about tracking down a lost rare bird and how the tracking of said bird affects the lives of the lovers in the 1700's and the lives of those in present day. Historical exploration for knowledge and tenative exploration of boundless love confined by society's mores are subtextually presented during this race to rediscover the mysterious ulieta bird. ( )

This book is actually one big meh. I've been looking forward to reading it for months but always put it off, and maybe it was the anticipation or the blurb, or my own shortcomings as a reader but it was just an epic disappointment.

The concept of the book is decent but the execution was poor. I never felt invested enough in the relationships to care about the present story (which is a shame as I felt the Fitz/Gabby backstory was fascinating and heartbreaking and I wanted to read more about it) and the back story was okay, but not enough to really make you give a damn about the quest to find this extinct stuffed bird and a load of paintings.

I think the book could have benefited from another 100 pages to flesh out the characters. I mean when we didn't even get to see the goodbye between Gabby and Fitz despite the history between them (in their 20 pages of interaction in the book we learn they were lovers, were married, lost a child, he left her and she continued to write to him for the 15 years they were apart but never divorced and the ending just felt so anti-climatic. Fitz and his student, Katya (who I think we were supposed to be rooting for?? I don't know - random insertion of someone to move the story along I guess but she made no indent into the story beyond solving all the clues and being the romantic foil to contrast Fitz past relationship and his new one, I think.

Maybe I missed something epic that made it standout as something memorable, or maybe my love of past/futures colliding just wasn't enough to overlook a book that fundamentally is about taxidermy and is 100 pages of characterisation short of being worthwhile as a character driven book. It definitely improved in terms of readability as it progressed, but to be honest - I was expecting so much more from it when I picked it up. It's definitely not one that will be getting picked up again anytime soon. ( )

I've been reading The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies. The bird was real. Now Extinct. ;( It was found by Cook's 2nd expedition to Australia & Pacific. A drawing of it is in the London Natural History Museum. The painting held by the Museum is a poignant reminder of the
irreversible damage that human colonization has inflicted on many
Pacific Ocean islands.'

You can see the drawing of the bird at the London Natural History Museum here;
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2007/february/news_10423.html

( )

when fiction skip around in time i have trouble following it. aging i guess. but at the end i could not see the point of this story. ( )