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The Birds That Never Flew
'The clock had called time and his was well and truly up. The bastard was about to die. Not even the Virgin Mary, whether she was here or she wasn't was going to get in the way of that.'
Battered and bruised, Elizabeth has taken her daughter and left her abusive husband Patrick. Again. In the bleak and impersonal Glasgow housing office Elizabeth meets the provocatively intriguing drug addict Sadie, who is desperate to get her own life back on track.
The two women forge a fierce and interdependent relationship as they try to rebuild their shattered lives, but despite their bold, and sometimes illegal attempts it seems impossible to escape from the abuse they have always known, and tragedy strikes.
More than a decade later Elizabeth has started to implement her perfect revenge - until a surreal Glaswegian Virgin Mary steps in with imperfect timing and a less than divine attitude to stick a spoke in the wheel of retribution.
Tragic, darkly funny and irreverent, The Birds That Never Flew ushers in a new and vibrant voice in Scottish literature.
Battered and bruised, Elizabeth has taken her daughter and left her abusive husband Patrick. Again. In the bleak and impersonal Glasgow housing office Elizabeth meets the provocatively intriguing drug addict Sadie, who is desperate to get her own life back on track.
The two women forge a fierce and interdependent relationship as they try to rebuild their shattered lives, but despite their bold, and sometimes illegal attempts it seems impossible to escape from the abuse they have always known, and tragedy strikes.
More than a decade later Elizabeth has started to implement her perfect revenge - until a surreal Glaswegian Virgin Mary steps in with imperfect timing and a less than divine attitude to stick a spoke in the wheel of retribution.
Tragic, darkly funny and irreverent, The Birds That Never Flew ushers in a new and vibrant voice in Scottish literature.
329 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2013
3 people are currently reading
203 people want to read
About the author
Margot McCuaig
4 books13 followersMy debut novel The Birds That Never Flew was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize and published by Thunderpoint. It was longlisted for the Polari First Book Prize. My second novel, Almost Then, was published by Linen Press on 1st April 2021.
I am also an award-winning filmmaker, writing and directing documentaries, leading to three RTS awards for best film. My work has taken me to lots of amazing places and I've met loads of extraordinary people but I'm at my happiest at home on Rathlin Island.
I am also an award-winning filmmaker, writing and directing documentaries, leading to three RTS awards for best film. My work has taken me to lots of amazing places and I've met loads of extraordinary people but I'm at my happiest at home on Rathlin Island.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 23, 2024
This is an amazing debut novel. The content is dark, I mean really dark, but in contrast, the writing is so beautiful, that it's almost poetic at times.
Elizabeth lives with the consequences of an abusive husband on a daily basis. Patrick is an absolute brute, but when Elizabeth meets drug addict Sadie, they both decide that they want to start a new life - new horizons beckon, and so, together with Elizabeth's daughter, they take off on the road trip to freedom.
This really is life in the raw, as it takes you on one heck of a journey, that carries you helplessly along to its conclusion. It doesn't seem right to say I 'enjoyed' this book in the normal sense of the word, as some of the events are so horrific, but what I can say is, I was mesmerised, and I would happily read anything that Margot McCuaig writes in the future. I feel like I've witnessed the birth of a very special literary star here!
Elizabeth lives with the consequences of an abusive husband on a daily basis. Patrick is an absolute brute, but when Elizabeth meets drug addict Sadie, they both decide that they want to start a new life - new horizons beckon, and so, together with Elizabeth's daughter, they take off on the road trip to freedom.
This really is life in the raw, as it takes you on one heck of a journey, that carries you helplessly along to its conclusion. It doesn't seem right to say I 'enjoyed' this book in the normal sense of the word, as some of the events are so horrific, but what I can say is, I was mesmerised, and I would happily read anything that Margot McCuaig writes in the future. I feel like I've witnessed the birth of a very special literary star here!
August 23, 2016
With tears in my eyes, I read this sad tale. Battered and bruised, Elizabeth has left her husband Patrick and she has taken her daughter Collette with her. Patrick kicked and smashed Elizabeth face to smithereens. Elizabeth and Collette are sent to the homeless unit and is promised a longer term temporary accommodation. She is advised to contact the police to impose some sort of court order to keep her husband away from her. I certainly recommend Margot McCuaig a new and vibrant voice in Scottish literature.
November 26, 2013
This book is amazing! The writing is vivd and descrptive,at times heartbreakingly so,yet still manages to be funny and engaging.The main theme of the book is dark and focuses on the character of Elizabeth and her very sad story.The author makes you cry and laugh on the same page.I would say this is one of the best,most original books I have ever read and highly recommend it! Dare I say,it would make a great Scottish film...?!
February 11, 2014
A brilliant first novel. A dark and disturbing storyline mixed with black humour and the Virgin Mary's Glesga patter! All-too-convincing characters take you on a fantastic journey that shocks and fascinates in equal measure. I wondered (and worried!) how it was going to end but wasn't disappointed. Highly recommended!
August 20, 2014
a book that shocks, delights, makes you happy and intrigues you all in equal measure - a deep and heartfelt story - thoroughly recommend
January 4, 2016
A fabulous, visual read. Mesmerizing. I have lots to ponder, many unanswered questions.
September 18, 2015
Can't recommend this book enough.
August 2, 2018
Brutal, bold and beautiful, The Birds That Never Flew held me captive from the first to the last page. The use of Glasgow dialect draws you closer to the action and stitches you into the edges of the story itself; this leaves no 'out' for you as a reader, particularly when the action is extremely violent - you're 'hemmed in' just like the characters in the story.
I especially enjoyed the relationship between the Glaswegian Virgin Mary and Elizabeth. McCuaig's deft use of magical realism adds sparkling streaks of humour, tenderness and hope to an otherwise relentlessly bleak backdrop.
It's an uncomfortable read, for sure - but it's also an important one.
I especially enjoyed the relationship between the Glaswegian Virgin Mary and Elizabeth. McCuaig's deft use of magical realism adds sparkling streaks of humour, tenderness and hope to an otherwise relentlessly bleak backdrop.
It's an uncomfortable read, for sure - but it's also an important one.
August 18, 2015
Elizabeth and Sadie, each with a young daughter, meet up at a Glasgow housing office after leaving their husbands. Her jaw broken by the latest beating, Elizabeth finds dubious consolation in the medal of the Virgin Mary she wears around her neck. When Sadie admits that she has stolen £20,000 from her drug-dealer husband in order to make a better life for her daughter on a small island off the coast of Ireland, Elizabeth is persuaded to go with her. But Sadie’s feckless husband is a mere pawn in the drug world, and his minder isn’t prepared to suffer that kind of loss. So Alan is dragged off by the violent Paddy to wreak vengeance on his recalcitrant wife.
I found the women’s lives quite harrowing, so it was a bit of a shock when, in the second half of the novel, an older Elizabeth, intent on revenge, meets up with a physical incarnation of the Virgin Mary. But, amongst the humour and surrealism, we come to a deeper understanding of the mental turmoil she’s suffered since childhood and the reason for her identification with, and hatred of, the saint who failed to save her. Although I think could have stood being shorter, and the resolution seemed too easy, this is a powerful novel about women’s vulnerability(see also The Lives of Women), the difficulty of exiting a drug culture (see also The Glorious Heresies) and the risks for children of putting their faith in the Catholic Church (see also A History of Loneliness).
I found the women’s lives quite harrowing, so it was a bit of a shock when, in the second half of the novel, an older Elizabeth, intent on revenge, meets up with a physical incarnation of the Virgin Mary. But, amongst the humour and surrealism, we come to a deeper understanding of the mental turmoil she’s suffered since childhood and the reason for her identification with, and hatred of, the saint who failed to save her. Although I think could have stood being shorter, and the resolution seemed too easy, this is a powerful novel about women’s vulnerability(see also The Lives of Women), the difficulty of exiting a drug culture (see also The Glorious Heresies) and the risks for children of putting their faith in the Catholic Church (see also A History of Loneliness).
unfinished
September 17, 2015I've parked this for now though I intend to go back to it later - I simply have too many others to read at present!
February 27, 2025
Sorry to say, I this was a disappointment for me. I was hugely impressed by the subtle intrigue of 'Almost there' and hoped for more of the same, but while the impact of the domestic violence, the ugliness of survival by drug use made for a powerful tale, I found the diversions to interact with the Virgin Mary irritating, and the finale (if that's what it was) muddled and inconclusive.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews