Bird Cottage

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: I want to find out how they behave when they’re free.

Len Howard was forty years old when she decided to leave her London life and loves behind, retire to the English countryside and devote the rest of her days to her one true passion: birds.

Moving to a small cottage in Sussex, she wrote two bestselling books, astonishing the world with her observations on the tits, robins, sparrows and other birds that lived nearby, flew freely in and out of her windows, and would even perch on her shoulder as she typed.

This moving novel imagines the story of a remarkable woman’s decision to defy society’s expectations, and the joy she drew from her extraordinary relationship with British garden birds.

I show more RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: A non-fiction novel, a fictionalized (more than usual) biography, it's a read that solves the need I feel to derive some kind of new-to-me knowledge from my entertainment. Len Howard was a real woman, and the facts of her life are as presented here.

I don't think that's necessary to know to appreciate this celebratory telling of one woman's remarkable life. It's interesting, and raises the question: Why not go into a full biography of this powerful, if quiet, personality? She would stand out in any era but in her lifetime (1894 to 1973) she was a unicorn! So, from the start, I was inclined to stand a bit apart from the story. When I'm told it's based on a real person's life, but is fiction, I'll never settle in to a naturally flowing response now. The "which is this thing, fact or fiction?" will arise at every turn.

No fifth star for you, book.

That said, the story told...quiet, meditative, filled with Howard's own sense of wonder and awe at the beautiful world...is an enfolding, enriching experience. I'm not deeply interested in les burdies, unlike so many. Howard's decision to stop creating music to pursue a close and deep connection to them was surprising to me, as it was to those very few she was close to. Her desire to see what unthreatened birds would do differently from the ones she saw being "studied" in harrassing ways, as was the norm at the time, made me think she was trying to find a space free of threats, free of unnatural demands, for herself. What she does in this beautiful idyll is make careful observations, meticulously recorded and thoroughly analyzed. This led to two published books, in 1952 and 1957, now seemigly out of print in English, though not in Dutch...for obvious reasons. Author Meijer's deft hand at work, I suppose, though she did not translate the book.

It is the story of a restricted life, told beautifully, and fully. It reveals that even a woman of restrained temperament...nothing in Len's life before or after her assuming residence at the eponymous Bird Cottage suggests she was a repressed soul, just a quiet one...can feel pinched and coerced into a mold not to her liking. Often the quiet souls, uncomplaining and undramatic in their manners and manner, are mimstakenly supposed to be happy or at least contented. Len Howard was neither. She disliked most human interaction. When, at forty-five, she left the social demands of the world behind to be fully in the natural world, she began to achieve things, to see things, that simply would not be seen in the regimes of study then fashionable. She began, I think, to live her life for herself, as herself.

The strength of my own lurid energies makes me think "that can not be a happy life" but the evidence of her writing suggests it was. I'm appalled, fascinated, and very slightly amazed that someone could choose, at any age younger than I am now, a life without sex. Without companionship. Without others. She wasn't the first, or the last, but "really?" is my one thought.

So there's the missing star explained away; the other four represent my glad-hearted, deeply gruntled feelings as I immerse myself into a calm pool of beautifully clear word-water, telling me a satisfying story of a life lived on the terms its subject most wanted. That she was ucky enough to do this for almost half her years on this planet makes her one of the most fortunate and privileged of people.

This beautifully translated novel of an extraordinary woman's life is an excellent seasonal read. It's one that, during a vacation, will allow the reader to submerge into a truly different way of life. Even though I myownself wouldn't want to live Len Howard's life, I'm glad Author Meijer and Translator Fawcett shared it with me. show less

It’s funny when you stumble across a book that is just right for your frame of mind. This book, in all its pastoral ramble-y ways, was that quiet I did not know I needed, in a world that is strangely quiet in ways (less traffic) but crazily loud in so many other ways (ALL THE NEWS).

This is a book about a woman and her birds, and I was startled to learn at the end of the book that Len was a real person, a woman who did live in Sussex, and who observed and wrote about the birds who lived in her garden, although her work wasn’t deemed scientific enough and are now out of print.


It’s strangely charming and yet profoundly sad, this woman’s life among her birds, especially in contrast to her younger self as a musician in London. An show more explanation for her reclusiveness isn’t exactly stated (at least not that I recall) but maybe the reader is meant to reflect on that and wonder show less

Bird Cottage is a simply beautiful book that I would not hesitate to recommend or gift to friends who appreciate books for language that conjures up vivid pictures and words that cry to be read aloud.

Gwendolyn (Len) Howard is reared in a rather unconventional home, at the whim of parents who organize soirees where she is called on to play violin and her father, an “unrecognized” poet, reads aloud to captive audiences his most recent works. What Len’s father lacks in parenting skills, he makes up for in long walks with her and discussions about the various birds encountered on those walks.

As soon as she can, Len escapes her parents’ home in the country and travels to London to pursue her dream of playing in an orchestra. We show more follow her through the years as she does so, even achieving a fair amount of success, but it’s not quite enough. Nor is a love affair she engages in. The constant in her life is her love and study of birds, and what I can only call her friendship with them. It eventually becomes all encompassing. So much so that she leaves her position with the orchestra and moves to a quiet cottage near Brighton to live alone with her birds and her life becomes centered on them.

It’s winter here and we feed the birds that visit our balcony. When I watch them, I can’t help but think of Len’s Peetur, Baldhead, Star and Monocle, to name a few. Bird Cottage has opened up a whole new world for me and I doubt if I’ll ever forget it or Len Howard. This novel is a lovely and loving tribute. show less

I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley.

Bird Cottage is a poetic, meditational sort of literary fiction novel. It explores the life Len Howard, a real woman who set aside her busy life as a professional violinist in London to live among and study birds in Sussex. In her time, she was a bestselling author, and also scorned as a witch-like recluse and not a genuine scientist because of her gender and lack of degrees.

The writing here is a joy to read. I encountered many turns of phrase I wish to absorb as my own. I related strongly to Len and could well understand why she came to prefer her home filled with birds over the company of humans. I think the mood of this book will linger with me a while yet.

“I want to find out how they behave when they're free.”

Gwendolen “Len” Howard, born in 1894, was a British naturalist and musician. She wrote two popular books, about her own unique observations of birds. In the late 1930s, she purchased a plot of land, with a small house on it and named it the “Bird Cottage”.

This novel, fictionalizes Howard's life. Examining her childhood, a successful career as a violinist and what led her to devote her later years to her passion of birds. I liked this book. It is solidly written and the author deserves credit for her deep research. It never reached quite the heights I was hoping for, but through my love for birds and nature, I found enough to be satisfied with.

Gwendolen Howard is born into a bohemian family at the turn of the century. As a child she is obsessed by two things - her violin and the birds she sees in the welsh countryside. Moving to London to become a professional violinist Len is still drawn to the country and the birds. After her father dies Len buys an isolated cottage in Ditchling and devotes the rest of her life to the study of her garden birds.
Reading this book I did not realise it was based on the true life story of an eccentric but passionate woman. Len is such an engaging character, following her passions to the exclusion of everything else. Even the more shocking aspects of the story are dealt with in a gentle and whimsical way. The writing fits the tone beautifully, show more Len is a pure soul and her passion shines through. Interspersing the narrative with extracts from her books just makes the story come alive. show less

Het levensverhaal van Len Howard, die begon als violiste in een orkest, maar die daarna besluit haar leven te wijden aan het onderzoeken van vogels in vrijheid. Baanbrekend onderzoek, interessante ontdekkingen (sommige koolmezen kunnen tellen). De vraag is of ze de vogels vermenselijkt in haar beschouwingen. De vogels vertrouwen haar volledig en ze moet strijd leveren met de buitenwereld om geïsoleerd te kunnen blijven leven. Ik vond dit een heel bijzonder boek, het maakte me nieuwsgierig naar de publicaties van Len Howard.