As someone who, at some times of the year, leads Monday morning bird walks, I was immediately drawn to this novel about a Tuesday morning bird walk in Kenya.
Two members of the group are a little bit in love with the class leader, Rose Mbikwa, and the story centres on their attempts to win her affections through competitive birdwatching.
The story is amusing and engaging (and occasionally very silly) and along the way has a lot to say about the best places to birdwatch, non-birding people's knowledge about birds and the birds of Kenya themselves with a few sly comments about politics and social conventions thrown in for good measure.
Each chapter is headed with an adorable sketch of a Kenyan bird, beautifully drawn by Yeti McCaldin.
A lovely book for anyone who enjoys Alexander McCall Smith's Ladies Detective Agency books or anyone interested in birds and birdwatching. And no, there has never been so much intrigue in my Monday morning bird walks!
A Guide to the Birds of East Africa by Nicholas Drayson, illustrated by Yeti McCaldin and published by Penguin.
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My next five week series of Monday morning bird walks starts on 24 February.
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You can read the rest of my reviews of Books about Birders by following the links below:
Birders by Mark Cocker.
3 comments:
VERY much like AMcS. Ordered A Guide to the Birds of East Africa from our library. :)
That sounds a very interesting and unusual book. I`ll look out for it. Thank you.
"Competitive birdwatching" sounds like fun. I wonder if the book has been published in the US.
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