By Nicholas Drayson
The book is slender for field guides, which usually contain all the birds of a region, with drawings or photos of each bird, along with description and maps. No, this is a sweet novel with a bird theme. For fans of the Ladies Number 1 Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith, this will be a pleasant way to spend some time.
The 'action' follows some birdwatchers in Nairobi who meet each Tuesday morning for a bird walk led by one Rose Mbikwa. It seems that two of the birders have taken a shine to Rose and each wishes to ask her to accompany him to an upcoming Hunt Club Ball. Readers will want to root for Mr Malik, a quiet widower, over the flashy Harry Kahn. In their men's club, friends come up with a friendly competition to see which one should get the privilege of escorting Rose: he who sees the most bird species in one week.
We follow each man's adventures as he birds around greater Nairobi, learning some bird names and a little about the geography of the area. Flashy Henry hires some birders whereas Mr Malik birds on his own, but each man has challenges along the way, be they automotive, legal, or even political.
The chapters open with an adorable pencil drawing of a Kenyan bird. These are reminiscent to field drawings that birders made and the type that Mr Malik draws in his little notebook, which we find out, contains much more than bird observations.
In the natural world, the flashy male bird always is the most successful. You'll need to read this book to find out if that is also true for humans.
Guest review by my sister, Jean Warneke, a veteran bird watcher!
Thanks for posting! It was a cute book, one that makes me smile during these troubling times.
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