The second novel by Booker Prize-longlisted author Anna Smaill. A lyrical and ambitious exploration of madness and what it is like to experience the world differently.
In Ueno Park, Tokyo, as workers and tourists gather for lunch, the pollen blows, a fountain erupts, pigeons scatter, and two women meet, changing the course of one another’s lives.
Dinah has come to Japan from New Zealand to teach English and grieve the death of her brother, Michael, a troubled genius who was able to channel his problems into music as a classical pianist—until he wasn’t. In the seemingly empty, eerie apartment block where Dinah has been housed, she sees Michael everywhere, even as she feels his absence sharply.
Yasuko is polished, precise, and keenly observant—of her students and colleagues at the language school, and of the natural world. When she was thirteen, animals began to speak to her, to tell her things she did not always want to hear. She has suppressed these powers for many years, but sometimes she allows them to resurface, to the dismay of her adult son, Jun. One day, she returns home, and Jun has gone. Even her special gifts cannot bring him back.
As these two women deal with their individual traumas, they form an unlikely friendship in which each will help the other to see a different possible world, as Smaill teases out the tension between our internal and external lives and asks what we lose by having to choose between them.
“Bird Life is a deeply affecting novel, transcending cultural barriers while reaching through them to the essentially human.”
David Mills, The Times
“A beautifully lyrical tale of loss, grief, and madness, whose central characters are so deftly drawn that you find yourself breathlessly following them down. Magically strange yet horribly real.”
Mat Osman, bassist of Suede and author of The Ghost Theatre
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“Bird Life is an astonishing book about grief, beauty, and survival ... the writing enters your bloodstream like a strange and wonderful drug.”
Emily Perkins, author of Lioness
‘[Bird Life is] as richly sensory and exquisite as Smaill’s previous novel, The Chimes. The world tilts and becomes strange and marvellous through her eyes.’
Lucy Treloar, author of Wolfe Island
“The two women at the center of Anna Smaill’s lovely, disconcerting novel Bird Life feel certain something is about to happen—something that’s about to change everything. These kinds of proclamations in a novel can feel unfulfillable, but when Dinah and Yasuko finally do meet, the transformations each affects upon the other are surprising, consuming, and satisfying. Smaill’s crystalline prose brings us inside each of their minds as they maneuver through a thoroughly modern cityscape into which the natural world is forever making incursions. An unusual, empathetic, and compulsively readable tale.”
Dan Kois, author of Vintage Contemporaries
“Smaill writes compellingly about the all-consuming nature of grief and the afterlife of those left behind. She also absorbingly evokes Yasuko’s mental illness, which sees her consulting beetles and birds for their counsel.”
Stephanie Cross, Daily Mail
“[E]lliptical, poetic … [A]n evocative and sensitive depiction of mental distress and the importance of perseverance … The key message of this subtle book: Though it might be difficult to detect them during times of hardship, glimmers of hope are always visible if one knows where to look.”
Bookpage
“Bird Life is immersive, beautifully constructed and fascinating in its portrayal of love and sorrow and the ways in which a mind constructs its world. It’s a fresh, beautifully written book, perfect for a reader looking for something out of the ordinary.”
Louise Ward, NZ Herald
“Smaill’s sentences are the lifeblood of Bird Life. They are smoother and cooler than those in The Chimes, signalling a dazzling new style. Her metaphors and similes expose the magic of the seemingly insignificant rhythms of life … Smaill captures the strange contours of the mind, body and world around us. Bird Life is disquieting and comforting in equal measure.”
Fiona Murphy, The Saturday Paper
“While this might appear like yet another novel that might wallow in mawkish sentimentality or indie movie miserablism, it is neither. Bird Life couples together, with studious brilliance, a deft use of conventional narrative devices and gorgeous polished prose.”
Driftless Area Review
Praise for The Chimes:
“To call The Chimes striking is I dare say to underplay what might be the most distinctive debut of the decade. Certainly, Smaill’s experience as a poet come through clearly in her perfectly poised prose. There’s a real richness to her images; a depth to her descriptions; her dialog practically sparkles; and the structure of the whole thing sings.”
Niall Alexander, tor
Praise for The Chimes:
“A totalitarian regime inflicts amnesia through music in this fresh and complex novel, which shows the social importance of an understanding of the past … fresh and original … cleverly orchestrated and poignantly conveyed throughout.”
Catherine Taylor, The Guardian
Praise for The Chimes:
“The novel is hypnotic, melancholic and requires concentration, but it builds to an incredibly tense and emotionally satisfying climax that rewards all the effort.”
Elle Magazine
