Charlie Gilmour

H is for Hawk meets The Duke of Deception in this wry, moving story of a young man who, as his estranged father is dying, saves a baby magpie only to find that caring for the mischievous bird has, in fact, saved him. One spring day, a baby magpie falls out of its nest and into Charlie Gilmour’s hands. Magpies, he soon discovers, are as clever and mischievous as monkeys. They are also notorious thieves, and this one quickly steals his heart. By the time the creature develops shiny black feathers that inspire the name Benzene, Charlie and the bird have forged an unbreakable bond. While caring for Benzene, Charlie comes across a poem written by his biological father, an eccentric British poet named Heathcote Williams who vanished when Charlie was six months old. As he grapples with Heathcote’s abandonment, Charlie is drawn to the poem, in which Heathcote describes how an impish young jackdaw—like magpies, also a member of the crow family—fell from its nest and captured his affection. Over time, Benzene helps Charlie unravel his fears about repeating the past—and embrace the role of father himself. A bird falls, a father dies, a child is born. Featherhood is the unforgettable story of a love affair between a man and a bird. It is also a beautiful and affecting memoir about childhood and parenthood, captivity and freedom, grief and love.

A Memoir of Two Fathers and a Magpie

Featherhood

"A beautiful, moving, and wildly original memoir of grief, healing, and fatherhood through the story of a young man who adopts a baby magpie"--

'The best piece of nature writing since H is for Hawk, and the most powerful work of biography I have read in years' Neil Gaiman 'Wonderful - I can't recommend it too highly' Helen Macdonald 'One of those rare, enchanted books' Isabella Tree 'Beautiful - it made me cry' Simon Amstell 'I was entranced' Cathy Rentzenbrink This is a story about birds and fathers. About the young magpie that fell from its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard into Charlie Gilmour's life - and swiftly changed it. Demanding worms around the clock, riffling through his wallet, sharing his baths and roosting in his hair... About the jackdaw kept at a Cornish stately home by Heathcote Williams, anarchist, poet, magician, stealer of Christmas, and Charlie's biological father who vanished from his life in the dead of night. It is a story about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. It is a story about change - from wild to tame; from sanity to madness; from life to death to birth; from freedom to captivity and back again, via an insane asylum, a prison and a magpie's nest. And ultimately, it is the story of a love affair between a man and a magpie.

Vlieglessen van Charlie Gilmour is een onvergetelijk verhaal over de band tussen een man en een vogel. Prachtige memoires over kind zijn en ouderschap, gevangenschap en vrijheid, rouw en liefde. Vlieglessen van Charlie Gilmour is een verhaal over vaders en vogels... ... over een jonge ekster die uit het nest valt, in de handen van Charlie Gilmour – en diens leven verandert: dag en nacht wil het beestje wormen, het rooft het huis leeg en gebruikt Charlies haar als nest. ... maar ook over een kauw, als huisdier gehouden door Heathcote Williams, dichter, anarchist en Charlies biologische vader, die zijn zoon in het holst van de nacht verliet. ... en over hoe de geschiedenis zich herhaalt. Vader en zoon delen meer dan alleen hun liefde voor vogels; Charlie vreest dezelfde fouten te maken als zijn vader. Dit is een verhaal over verandering – van wild naar tam, van bijna dood naar leven, van vrijheid naar gevangenschap en terug. Vlieglessen van Charlie Gilmour is een onvergetelijk verhaal over de band tussen een man en een vogel. Prachtige memoires over kind zijn en ouderschap, gevangenschap en vrijheid, rouw en liefde. ‘Prachtig. Ik kan het niet genoeg prijzen.’ – Helen Macdonald, auteur van H is voor havik ‘Dit is de indrukwekkendste biografie die ik in jaren gelezen heb. Charlie Gilmour betoont zich een nieuw literair talent: als een dichter kiest hij zijn woorden en als een ekster houdt hij ons telkens een klein juweel voor.’ – Neil Gaiman ‘Scherpzinnig, grappig en soms traumatisch relaas over de schadelijke gevolgen van een destructieve vader-zoonrelatie en de wens om die cyclus te doorbreken. Fantastisch.’ – Evening Standard ‘Een van de mooiste boeken die ik ooit gelezen heb.’ – Elton John

Vlieglessen

This is a story about birds and fathers. About the young magpie that fell from its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard into Charlie Gilmour's life - and swiftly changed it. Demanding worms around the clock, riffling through his wallet, sharing his baths and roosting in his hair... About the jackdaw kept at a Cornish stately home by Heathcote Williams, anarchist, poet, magician, stealer of Christmas, and Charlie's biological father who vanished from his life in the dead of night. It is a story about repetition across generations and birds that run in the blood; about a terror of repeating the sins of the father and a desire to build a nest of one's own. It is a story about change - from wild to tame; from sanity to madness; from life to death to birth; from freedom to captivity and back again, via an insane asylum, a prison and a magpie's nest. And ultimately, it is the story of a love affair between a man and a magpie.

Charlie Gilmour

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