Review of A BIRD IN WINTER by Louise Doughty

 2.5 Stars

I’ve enjoyed other of Doughty’s books so thought I’d listen to this one on my morning walks. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment.

Heather, nicknamed Bird, is a middle-aged woman who works for the British secret service. She suddenly goes on the run but the reason why and whom she is fleeing is unknown. Only slowly, through flashbacks, are details filled in.

This book is marketed as a thriller but it’s the slowest thriller I’ve ever read. Heather is on the run but because she withholds information and reveals it only in dribs and drabs, I wondered whether she is really in danger. Maybe she’s an unreliable narrator. She spends a lot of time reflecting on her past and how stunted her life has been because of her chosen career. As she moves from place to place, there are detailed descriptions of the towns and landscapes she encounters. At times I felt I was reading a travelogue. Neither introspection nor setting descriptions are hallmarks of thrillers.

There is not a great deal of suspense. Except for one incident, threats are vague and there are extended periods when she lives like a tourist. This is my polite way of saying that I was bored a great deal of the time. There is so much information about a past friendship and so much description of the scenery, especially in her last location, that it’s difficult to determine what is relevant.

Some events are just implausible. Heather gets into debt because of a real estate deal but then has unlimited funds for extended travel; not once does she express any concern about running out of money. Even in the remotest or smallest places, she easily finds accommodation? And then there’s the ending with so many unanswered questions, though the identity of the person manipulating everything is no surprise since it’s been hinted at from the beginning.

When I reached the end, I wondered whether I’d missed something because I’d listened to an audiobook rather than read a physical text. The misleading marketing is definitely a problem; the novel is not a thriller in the traditional sense. Instead, the book explores the impact of a woman’s past choices and the emotional toll of being forced to flee and leave everything behind.