Lazy Saturday Review: The Bird Tribunal @OrendaBooks

From Lipsyy : I started doing ‘lazy Saturday reviews’ as a way of getting reviews done in just 30 mins, and they proved to be quite popular. They are quick and snappy, and concentrate less on the plot (or content) and writing and more on my overall feelings about said book. They generally end up being a bit of a rant. My fave!

Title: The Bird Tribunal
Author: Agnes Ravatn
Translation: Rosie Hedger
Publisher: Orenda Books
Date of publication: January 2017
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 185
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half

TV presenter Allis Hagtorn leaves her partner and her job to take voluntary exile in remote house on an isolated fjord. But her new job as housekeeper and gardener is not all that it seems, and her silent, surly employer, 44-year-old Sigurd Bagge, is not the old man she expected. As they await the return of his wife from her travels, their silent, uneasy encounters develop into a chilling, obsessive relationship, and it becomes clear that atonement for past sins may not be enough. Haunting, consuming and powerful, The Bird Tribunal is a taut, exquisitely written psychological thriller that builds to a shocking, dramatic crescendo that will leave you breathless.

Imagine yourself in the middle of nowhere; a house, nature all around. Yet, you’re feeling crowded and lacking space. You’re locked in your mind, trying to escape the sound of life, but your ears are buzzing with your own thoughts, and it’s even worse.

A mysterious man is living here, too. The cold house is filled with a claustrophobic atmosphere. The garden is your Eden, you discover it, you learn it, you practice it.
This story is everything but calm and silent.

The elegant writing is as noisy as the chirping of birds, as sharp as the blade of a razor, as violent as a storm, as loud as the thunder. The emotions are millions, the actions are hundreds. Big and small, nothing is left to chance. Answers are given, drop by drop, like the melting snow gently falling on your roof.

The tension is in the air, in the characters themselves, in the place, all around the book, like fog surrounding the reader chapter after chapter, inconspicuously creeping on you until you’re in the cold water from head to toe.

The ending is a slamming door, fast and shocking, the disturbed dust settling back when the big bang has happened.

Slow paced but burning bright, The Bird Tribunal is exquisitely disturbing and beautifully chilling.

You can find the book online and in the best bookstores or on Orenda Books’ eBookstore

You can read about the author in this post: 5 Things About