Deckname Bird

by Louise Doughty

Heather Berriman, genannt Bird, arbeitet für eine allen britischen Geheimdiensten zugeordneten Abteilung, die sich um Maulwürfe und Korruption in den Diensten kümmern soll. Während einer Besprechung erkennt sie, dass sie selbst unter Verdacht geraten ist, und da sie aus langjähriger Erfahrung weiß, wie es läuft, setzt sie sich innerhalb von 30 Sekunden ab und flieht, um die Möglichkeit zu haben, sich von dem Verdacht reinzuwaschen. Keine leichte Aufgabe, selbst für einen Top-Profi wie sie. Sie muss alle Register ihres Könnens und ihrer Verkleidungskunst ziehen, denn auch ein Killer ist hinter ihr her. Und wer weiß, wer noch alles? Ihre Flucht führt sie durch grandiose Landschaften in Schottland, Norwegen und schließlich Island. Ihr Privatleben liegt in Trümmern. Die Intrige aber, der sie zum Opfer gefallen ist, ist weit größer, als sie es sich hätte ausmalen können ...

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Audiobook, Espionage, Crime, Mystery, Book Club

390 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2023

About the author

Louise Doughty is a novelist, playwright and critic. She is the author of five novels; CRAZY PAVING, DANCE WITH ME, HONEY-DEW, FIRES IN THE DARK and STONE CRADLE, and one work of non-fiction A NOVEL IN A YEAR. She has also written five plays for radio. She has worked widely as a critic and broadcaster in the UK, where she lives, and was a judge for the 2008 Man Booker Prize for fiction.

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5 stars*

We begin in an office of a multi storey building in Birmingham, UK, nicknamed Alaska because it’s so darn cold. A rather superior looking man, Kieron Blythe is standing by the floor to ceiling window, gazing out over the city centre, coffee cup in hand, and as he turns very slowly and places the cup on the table, his staff sit with bated breath, the urgency palpable, because there’s something in the manner in which he placed his cup down, that signals just how serious the information he has just imparted is, and it’s something that gets fifty year old Heather’s heart beating with dread. Immediately she rises and without a word leaves the office and goes on the run!

However, working in British Intelligence, she’s been prepared for this eventuality and has an elaborate escape plan - a bag containing assorted clothing/ disguises, fake passport, burner phone, and a wad of cash - she just has to make it home first to retrieve it.

Heather knows that someone will hunt her down, but she has no idea who. As we accompany Heather (Bird) up country towards the vast open hills, lochs, rivers and forests of Scotland, we slowly begin to discover what it is that’s led her to take such extreme measures, because she’s not just leaving her job, but also her home and life as she knows it.

Though slow at times initially, it gave the reader a chance to absorb Heather’s background, along with her family’s history (her father was also a spy) and that of her friends. The tension became unbearable as the story progressed, with Heather desperately trying to stay one step ahead of her pursuers - believe me, no easy task. This was a terrific read and comes highly recommended.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Faber and Faber for my ARC in exchange for an honest unbiased review *

[Andrew Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

To fully appreciate some stories, the less you know in advance, the better. This is such a story. So, I’ll try to provide my thoughts on this outstanding book without disclosing anything likely to spoil the experience for future readers.

It starts with an office scene. A man is stood looking out of an upper floor window, a cup of coffee in his hand. Two of the people sat around a table, shared a look, and one of them immediately left the room. There’s a sense of urgency in the air. We don’t know why – we’re not yet privy to what immediately proceeded this – but it seems that the act of leaving is significant. Perhaps it’s an escape. But if so, an escape from what?

We’re introduced to Heather, and in time, we are to learn a good deal about her life. She has pressing needs now and is attempting to deal with them, but her mind is often drawn to the past too, and this is where we will slowly begin to unpick why events are unfolding as they are. There’s mystery here, of course, but there’s action too, quite startling and unexpected action. It’s very hard to anticipate how things will eventually play out, so tightly is this tale constructed, the sense of jeopardy so well maintained.

I’d read Apple Tree Yard, the author’s seventh novel, some nine years ago and absolutely loved it, but somehow Doughty then slipped off my radar. I’m struggling to understand how and why because this book is, in many ways, completely different but equally as strong. Her writing is spare in the sense that not a word is wasted but rich in her ability to absolutely convince in her descriptions of people, their actions, and their inner thoughts. There wasn’t a moment here that I doubted an action that was taken or a thought brought to mind. She paints vivid pictures throughout whilst remorselessly maintaining an iron grip on the narrative. I totally understood what was happening, even if the ‘why’ would only be revealed late on – and in a very surprising way.

It’s a wonderful book on so many levels, and I’d recommend it to just about any reader. It’s a mystery and a thriller, but also I’d suggest it would appeal to anyone who enjoys a well written story, regardless of the genre. It’s already clear to me that this will be amongst the best books I’ll read this year. And I’m definitely now going to track down all of her books that I’ve overlooked for so long.

My thanks to Faber and Faber Ltd for providing an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+

“Alaska“ is an always a cold room in a corner building in Birmingham. Boss, Kieron Blythe calls a meeting and has just made an announcement and Heather, also known as Bird, is desperate to meet colleague Carmella‘s eyes. What on earth did Kieron say that leads Heather to make such an abrupt and unexpected departure? The story is told in three parts, part one is Bird on the run to and around Scotland, part two is when you really get to know Bird and to the heart of the matter and part three is reflection and…… and as for the rest, that would be telling !

This winter bird has to be ice cold times, but maybe she thaws?? This is not a high octane thriller but it’s cleverly low-key yet still contains numerous moments of tension and suspense, it’s exciting and takes several unexpected directions. I love the way Louise Doughty keeps the truth elusively dangling like the proverbial carrot and donkey and that works so well as I plough on transfixed!

Bird has to utilise every ounce of her wits and all the senses in order to stay safe. It’s so refreshing to have a middle-aged woman as the maybe heroine and the more you get to know her the more you grow to admire her. Part two is very illuminating and here you start to collect the dots about what is happening to Bird. With a few deft strokes the characters that Bird encounters along the way spring to life before your eyes.

The settings are amazing and match both the plot and the loneliness of this bird in winter. You get a terrific tour around Scotland (thank you, my heart soars too) and all the locations are used extremely effectively, so much so that I can see this making a terrific screen adaptation. Hello BBC/Netflix??

Overall, I so enjoy this book, especially how the pace changes from one part to the next, and this is one character that I will remember. Go Bird, fly free!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Faber and Faber Ltd for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★
“I feel myself rise, and as I am rising what I am thinking, calculating, is: It’s no more than thirty paces to the lifts.”

Heather Berriman has been working in the British Secret Service, most recently in the Birmingham office where their brief is to investigate the Service’s own agents and staff suspected of wrongdoing.

She’s good at her job and experienced at reading between the lines in conversations and meetings. Her father had worked in the same field after WW2, so she and her mother were very aware of the demands and limitations such a career put on their lives. He has always called her “Bird”, hence the title.

The situation above arises as the story is beginning, and it’s something she has been prepared for seemingly forever.

“I thought of how my father had insisted on a gravel drive in front of our house, so you could always hear the postman’s approach in the morning.
. . .
And so I suppose it was always in my blood, running I mean – perhaps not running itself so much as the preparedness to run – the capacity to go through each day always being ready. If you grow up with that, you come to think of it as just something inside you that you live with, like mild asthma, or an allergy to seafood. It doesn’t dominate your life, you just feel a low-level awareness of it all the time, an instinctive vigilance that you hardly ever think about.”

In other words, you’re always looking over your shoulder and can never afford to take anyone at face value. Exciting and exhausting.

The author moves Heather’s story between her army years in the WRAC, where she makes friends with Flavia, another soldier, who becomes a surrogate sister, and her later career in various roles.

She and her best pal both sleep around – a lot – and lead colourful lives. Flavia is a gorgeous girl, while Heather feels like a shadowy imitation of her. Still, she enjoys plenty of action, and that never stops.

“Older men often had an endearing, world-weary but kindly quality – at the same time they knew what they wanted. Being ten or fifteen years younger than them was as good as being beautiful – and so they wanted me.”

Women in the army are very much second-class soldiers.

“Over at Sandhurst, the passing-out parade was attended by the Queen. We got our parents. But at least mine seemed to enjoy it.”

Of course they did – she is following her father’s career path. After the army, when she’s older and in another career, she gets a tap on the shoulder from a man her father worked with, and thus begins her career as a spy.

I will say that she makes it across the thirty steps to the lift and to the bag she has always had ready in the event she would need to flee. From there, she takes off on an exciting (and exhausting) escape into the cold northern climes.

The story is full of burner phones and Heather dodging the people she senses (and sometimes sees) who are on her trail, as well as the usual threats to a small woman travelling alone. It can also be grindingly frustrating, having to sit tight in one place, unable to contact anyone.

The author has plenty of scope for description as Heather constantly hikes through the countryside to learn the terrain by heart and calculate possible escape routes. Life on the run can be miserable.

“It’s raining hard and the second-hand bomber jacket is like one of those soft holey sponges you use to mop the kitchen counter. I begin to shiver, and I recognise the depth of my shuddering as a kind of delayed shock – not so much shock, perhaps, but the drain of adrenaline that occurs after a situation. Strange, I think. I didn’t believe myself to be afraid, but my body is acting as if I was.”

Later, though:

“The sky above me is blue, with drifting clouds that are snowy white on top, the colour grading gradually towards the bottom through palest grey to dark, darker, darkest. There is a richness to the browns and greens beneath me: the bracken is both fresh and bone dry, lurid green and the colour of a brown envelope.”

I found her whole life interesting and was happy to suspend disbelief here and there, when I admit I doubted her ability to pull something off. Petty details!

Thanks to #NetGalley and Faber and Faber for a preview copy of #ABirdinWinter for review.

A personal P.S. is the idea of a go-bag for emergencies - fires, floods, storms. As I write this, Australia is getting ready for what looks like a bad bushfire season, so we're getting ready.

[Christy fictional_traits · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Mysteriousness is addictive, after all - it puts us at the centre of the story'.

Heather (Bird) has made a career from working for secret intelligence, following her abrupt exit from the army. She was born to it - her father was a spy too, 'Do these jobs warp your personality so you can perform them well, or did you choose them because they suited you in the first place'. However, one poor choice compromises her reputation and suddenly she's on the run, 'nobody but me knows what I am doing or where I am going: what a secret, soaring thought. I'm hurtling away from my life. I've done it. I've gone'. But as Bird continues to evade her future, by fleeing from her past, she questions how and what will make her stop, 'Why do we run? Is it because we want to be far away, to be hidden, or is it because of the most profound of all human desires to be found.'?

'A Bird in Winter' is an introspective character study, wrapped in the secretive, escapist world of spying. Written in three parts: present, past, and present, the reader is first dropped into a free fall of escape and evasion, before the parachute is deployed and the pace slows. We learn more about not only the events which cause Bird to fly but also her psyche, 'we do everything for two reasons after all: the reason, and the real reason'.

I've never read anything from Louise Doughty before and I really enjoyed this book. Even when the pace slowed, I enjoyed the reflection and introspection of the past in trying to understand Bird. While I wouldn't call this a 'nail-biting thriller', there are definitely edgy aspects to the book and the writing is lovely: depicting the starkness of winter, highlighting Bird's bleak outlook. I would definitely recommend this book to readers who enjoy a unique story with literary flare.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm afraid this was not a book for me. I'd expected "a nail-bitingly tense and compelling spy novel" (as promised by Paula Hawkins - but since I wasn't gripped by her novel either I guess I should have known it wouldn't grab me).

Anyway the story is about Heather (Bird) who works as a handler (possibly - I never did quite figure that out) of some part of The Service (supposedly MI5/6). One day she discovers that she has been implicated in her boss's wrongdoing so she follows a plan to run (which she's already put in place because of her suspicions). That Heather knows how to get out of scrapes isn't crazy - she has been in the army and her father worked as a spy for many years). All she has to do is get away fast enough and far enough before she can begin negotiations to get herself out of trouble.

So we then follow Heather on a very tortuous escape up through Scotland and then off the mainland. I won't say more than that because of spoilers.

I think the reason I didn't engage was because the character if Heather isn't particularly sympathetic - she may be loyal but she's selfish. The second reason is that the book dawdles along at a snail's pace for much of it. There are lots of descriptions of the countries that Heather passes through and it reads like a travel book at times. There is very little tension and I did not bite my nails once. I think I actually wanted someone to catch her, which might have been more interesting.

This is my first Louise Doughty so maybe if I knew her style I'd have been expecting this slow pace but it didn't appeal to me at all.

Thanks to Netgalley and Faber & Faber for the advance review copy.

[Claire Fuller]

After suspecting that her boss in 'the Service' is implicating her in his double dealing, Heather (aka Bird) goes on the run, heading north to Scotland and onwards. heather is such an interesting protagonist: a woman in her fifties, wily, fit, independent and resourceful. This is a literary spy novel and Doughty includes wonderful descriptions of the landscape which Heather travels through as well as her memories of her father, also a spy.

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Bird in Winter wastes no time pulling you in. It opens with a woman walking out of a meeting and immediately going on the run, her actions so precise it’s obvious they’re planned and rehearsed. There’s no context, no exposition, just the sudden urgency of escape. It’s an unusual structure – following the main character’s flight while knowing little about why it’s happening or even who she is – and it’s to Doughty’s credit that it’s instantly gripping. Once the story got its teeth into me, I read huge chunks without even looking up.

After the initial exhilarating stretch of action, the frame expands to show us more about the woman – Heather, a long-time employee of British intelligence, aka ‘the Service’. Having spent most of her life in a secretive admin role, she now believes she’s been betrayed, although the exact nature of this betrayal takes time to come into focus. The story unfolds in two main strands: Heather’s frantic escape, and the reflective process of piecing together how she got here. It’s a very thoughtful type of espionage novel. Stretches of it are riveting, while others are slow, and it’s driven far more by character than plot.

Eventually, we get to know a lot about Heather, although I would still have liked to know more. Her friendship with Flavia, an army colleague, is particularly intriguing, not least because it seems somewhat one-sided; as we never see any other perspective, it’s hard to judge. Perhaps Doughty really does mean us to believe they have a deep and unusual bond, but to me it seemed more likely Flavia was just a generally warm and passionate person – the ‘everyone’s best mate’ type we’ve all met at some point – with Heather, whose life (necessarily) lacks close connections, overstating their relationship. This raises the question: how much of Heather’s perspective can we trust? Doughty doesn’t go out of her way to frame Heather as an unreliable narrator, but it’s something I kept circling back to.

As a latecomer to Doughty’s fiction, and having only read Apple Tree Yard a few months ago, I couldn’t help comparing Heather to Yvonne (who is, of course, a classically unreliable narrator). They could almost be alternate versions of the same person: an extremely capable and professional middle-aged woman who, for all her intelligence, has a certain naivety when it comes to personal relationships. Both protagonists share a tendency to fantasise that made me deeply sceptical of what they tell us. The structure – a narrator looking back to figure out where they went wrong – is similar too. And both books involve an affair that sends everything off the rails. None of this is exactly a problem, although I do think ATY is the stronger book.

This one’s been rattling around in my brain since I finished it, and I’m still not sure I’ve fully settled on how I feel about all of it. Which is probably a good sign. Some books hit hardest after you put them down, and this feels like one that would be especially rewarding on a reread.

[hawk · Rating 1 out of 5]

overall/in retrospect, no, I did not like it nor would I recommend it! 🙃😕😬

thoughts as I went for this one:

initially interesting, in a well constructed way - a gradual unfolding of a story, enough hints at what's going on - creates a desire to read on and find out what happens.

reminded me of 'Going Zero', but different. tho also was hard to escape the parallels with 'Killing Eve' (televised series inspired by 'Codename Villainelle' iirc)(tho 'Killing Eve' was more interesting, and more fun than my experience of the book it was inspired by/based on).

also really boring while being well written and interesting, if that makes sense 🙃

repetitive and kinda self indulgent in places 🙄🥱 I had mixed feelings about the main character. her privilege is pretty obvious and never really interrogated, just the occasional passing reference to class and/or racialised positions, with gender being the main marginalised focus - very validly, but abit one dimensional. sexuality too is very vague, which can be how it is, but kinda annoying too, esp wrt the relationship between Heather and Flavia - so much is kinda ignored/evaded 😬🙄😬🙄

and so close to the end and the story is very far from any resolution I think. probably going to be disappointing in that respect - left unsatisfactorily unconcluded, or a rushed conclusion...

yup, disappointingly unresolved 🙄🙄 and actually kinda throws in something really annoying (her choosing a path that means no contact with Flavia's daughter, having seemingly committed to contact with her 🙄😵🙄). lost any remaining interest in the character, who just comes across as self focussed and uncaring in action (whatever she might feel) 😬😵😬

🌟

accessed as a library audiobook, read by Claire Corbett.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating story about a lady called Heather who has been set up by a co-worker to take the blame for an illegal operation.
Heather has to go on the run and keep one step ahead of the people who are after her, she must stay alive to clear her name.
This is thriller that had me on the edge of my seat.
A very enjoyable read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Tooter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

[Wendy Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a long time since I read such a visual book. It could have been a screenplay given its sense of place. I found it completely tense and absorbing and became a vicarious adrenaline junkie as I read.

If this had been flagged as a spy story I would have been disinterested yet, whilst it is, just that, the reality is that this story could be a template for any threatened woman on the run and an older woman, to boot! Completely embedded in a world of secrets and outward appearance, I found that the strength of the narrative lay in Bird/Heather's quick witted head. The reader is fed information at exactly the right moments for us to inhabit this intelligently rounded character which only enhances the layered plotting.

I couldn't put it down.

With heartfelt thanks to NetGalley and Faber for the opportunity to read and review

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this via The Pigeonhole, a sort of online book club, reading along with other readers on the app. The book was split into 10 parts, called staves, emailed to me each day. I was able to leave comments throughout and interact with the others. The was also Q&As between the author and ThePigeonhole. This was a very different book to what I was expecting and sadly a disappointing one for me. I normally love books about spies, the thrill of the chase and assignments gone wrong! Unfortunately for me it wasn't like that at all. Yes Bird is on the run, and she does use different disguises, but it's not in exotic locations and there's no high speed chases or gadgets. It's probably more like a real life in the security services. It was a real slow burner with a character I couldn't identify with and didn't like. I seriously thought about DNFing, but there was a very exciting part that I loved, and I thought it might continue in that vein but it didn't. The ending was also a bit disappointing, with no real conclusion, which left me feeling a bit confused. So all in all a disappointing read for me by an author I doubt I'll read again.

[eyes.2c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this is a bit Iike walking through sand, muffled and understated. Heather is set up by members of the intelligence agency she’s working for. She flees and we’re right there with her. She analyses her past, the influence of her father, and her relationship with her mother as she executes her escape plan. A rather unforgiving read that has you feeling Heather’s age, her pain, her compartmentalising of her memories. A woman on the run, trained to think things through, except for those little mistakes.

[The Cookster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.4/5

Unfortunately, I think this book may suffer as a result of how it has been positioned by the marketing team. Much is made of the quote from Paula Hawkins that this is "A nail-bitingly tense and compelling spy novel" and the publisher's blurb focuses on "Bird" being a woman on the run from her employers in the Service. Now, while none of that is wholly inaccurate, it does paint a picture and raise expectations of a novel that is very different to the one that Louise Doughty has actually delivered.

To avoid any misunderstanding, I will make clear that I did enjoy "A Bird in Winter". It does have the theme of espionage running in the background. It also has moments of tension and it certainly does make for compelling reading - but in a manner that is very much of the intriguing slow-burn variety rather than that of a high-octane spy thriller. This story is as much about Bird journeying back through her life and its significant events as it is about a woman being chased (or not) by the clandestine powers that she has spent many years working for.

Louise Doughty makes use of some wonderfully evocative descriptive language that transports the reader into the environment she is depicting. There are times when the prose is quite moving with numerous passages that are well-observed and skilfully written. However, this does mean that the pace of the novel is generally quite slow - and that is where reader expectations may well find themselves clashing with, and potentially rebelling against, the anticipation created by the marketing position of this novel.

I would certainly recommend this book, but with the proviso that you do not expect it to be a conventional espionage thriller, otherwise you are likely to be disappointed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

[Aoife Cassidy McM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acclaimed literary crime writer Louise Doughty’s latest novel is cinematic and well-written, it just lacked pace, tension and intrigue for me. While I could really see this being made into a BBC serialised crime drama, it was quite a slog to get through at times. I think it’s a story that might work better on the small screen than it does on paper.

Our protagonist Heather (also known as “Bird”) is a middle-aged spy who spent her formative years in the British Army. When she is sent on a mission to Birmingham for counterespionage purposes, her personal circumstances lead to her becoming unwillingly (and somewhat unwittingly) entangled in some internal dodgy dealings, forcing her to go on the run.

The book opens with Heather on the run from Birmingham to Scotland and it’s a torturously slow start, written entirely in the present tense and bloated with descriptions of directions being taken from one place to another, with the reader in the dark as to why Heather has fled.

I was glad I stuck with it, as it does pick up once we delve into Heather’s life and with a change of location. The story takes a very Scandi-noir turn, with some beautiful descriptions of nature, weather, climate and landscape. I’d recommend this if you love literary spy thrillers and Scandinavian crime fiction - it’s a decent winter read, just don’t expect a fast-paced thriller. 3/5⭐️

*Many thanks to @gillhessltd @faberbooks for the #gifted copy of this book. As always, this is an honest review.*

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heather, more usually known as Bird, has followed in her father's footsteps with a career in the security services. Now in her late forties, she has been assigned to join a new investigation team based in Birmingham under the leadership of Kieron Blythe - their task is to seek out potentially-corrupt agents and bring them to the attention of the service's standards team. But Bird gets herself into a financial mess over her move from London to Birmingham and, having failed to report her issues to the relevant authorities, finds herself indebted to her boss, Kieron, who she suspects of being corrupt himself. When Kieron announces that the team are all suspended and about to be investigated, Bird feels that her only option is to go on the run until she can get evidence against Kieron. She already had plans in place but finds herself tracked and pursued by both the authorities and a possible assassin....
I quite enjoyed this book, as I have all this author's previous work, but for me the ending let it down seriously and was a big disappointment to me, hence only a 3-star rating. I was certainly hoping for a bit more of a conclusion to be honest - 7/10.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed Louise Doughty ever since Apple Tree Yard so was really looking forward to this one.

When you read the synopsis for this book, there may be a chance you are signing up for something that you might not be. Our protagonist, Bird, walks out in the middle of a meeting and goes on the run. The synopsis talks of 'multiple identities' and people being 'on her trail' and whether she will be 'hunted down'. All sounds very thrilling and exciting? Well, yea and no.

This isn't a typical thriller, it's not a rollercoaster ride Jason Bourne-style of a woman being chased all over the country. The story, for me, was actually quite slow but in a good way. It's a character driven story as we are walked through Bird's backstory and why she came to walk out her meeting.

I don't want to give too much more away but I wouldn't go into this expecting a typical thriller, however I would encourage everyone to read it. Bird is a character who will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to Netgalley and Faber and Faber for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

[Melanie Caldicott · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a couple of books by Louise Doughty and she is a skillful writer of literary psychological thrillers. This one drew me in but sadly failed to deliver though. The writing is descriptive and rich including a lot of travel and nature. The setup of the spy thriller plot was well laid at and initially I was engaged with the story of Bird on the run. But this quickly turned cold as I failed to connect with the friendship story of Bird's past. In the end I found the pacing slow and the fragmented parts of Bird's life and the different strands of narrative never really came together. A bit disappointing in the end. But if you like the show Hunted and enjoy nature writing this might be one for you.
This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

[Jo_Scho_Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather (aka Bird) is a woman accustomed to challenges. She’s wiry and tough and, just like her late father, she’s spent her life working for the Intelligence Service. But when something happens right in the middle of a meeting in her office in Birmingham, she’s forced to walk out of the life she knows and keep on walking, constantly looking over her shoulder. She’s diligently prepared for this moment but it still doesn’t remove the fear and apprehension that someone, somewhere is after her. And getting closer.

This was a completely different book to the kind I usually read. Yet while I’ve never ever been drawn to spy thrillers, I enjoyed this hugely. Bird is highly skilled ex army, she knows how to hide; her time there has created an armour of toughness. But as her story is revealed it’s apparent that her vulnerability is hiding away deep inside her and I loved the peeling away of her many layers.

Then there are the locations, oh my goodness! I was transfixed as I travelled to Scotland, Norway and Iceland with Bird. The book is a love letter to the north; the beauty, the harshness, the isolation, it all pours off the pages. The author captures it all so perfectly that you feel like you’re there yourself.

This truly is a wonderful novel, focusing on a strong yet fragile 50 year old woman and reflecting on her past life and future. It’s filled with tension, anticipation, regrets and hope. I loved every single page.

Bird, you’re a character I certainly won’t forget in a hurry.

[Thebooktrail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spy story set mainly across Scotland




Discover the locations in the novel here

I love Louise Doughty and I enjoyed this book but I don’t think the blurb matches the story within – it doesn’t do it justice. It seems to be a spy themed thriller with a woman fleeing her office and heading up to Scotland to escape someone or something but it is so much more than this.

Bird walks out of her meeting in Birmingham and goes on the run. She heads to and passes few a fair few places (How many shall I put on the map I asked myself) She is clearly on the run and this seems to be the spark that will alight the novel and burn it with the spy label. However, it’s not exactly that yet it does explore the life of someone on the run. Question is why is she running?

When you start to discover Bird’s backstory, that is when the trail really starts clicking into place. This is the story – why a woman named Bird decides to escape her life one day by just walking out. Oh I really can’t say much else but just be prepared for a good story – it is Louise Doughty after all.

And you’ll need to put your feet up afterwards as you get to travel loads in this book!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heather, also known as Bird, worked in the Women's Royal Army Corps in the 1980s before joining the British intelligence services, following in her father's footsteps. Now it's 2009 and Heather abruptly flees a work meeting in Birmingham, picking up the holdall she's stashed in a nearby shop and the train tickets she's already bought, commencing a journey up through Scotland and at last to Scandinavia. Of the five Louise Doughty novels I've read, this sits closest to my other favourite, Black Water, which deals with a man running from black ops who's now hiding out in Indonesia reflecting on his past. Neither A Bird in Winter nor Black Water are thrillers, exactly, but I found both gripping, even though the pace is deliberately varied, with brief bursts of action interspersed with much longer, reflective sections. Heather is such a refreshing protagonist, a tough, smart woman in her fifties who has been single for much of her life, and is childless by choice. Doughty digs into the personal cost of her isolation, but never suggests that she would have been happier if she'd married and had children; instead, Heather regrets cutting herself off from parents and friends. And even so, the novel paints an equivocal picture, as Heather's flight, alongside her trained observational skills, allows her to take in a panorama of Scottish life, from the young man in Thurso smashing pottery plates that people have paid to paint at a workshop and then left behind, to an older man gutting fish with his son in Shetland. Her detachment from the world also allows her, in some ways, to connect more deeply with it. So yes, this isn't what you might expect from a 'spy novel', but its emotional richness meant I cared so much more about how it played out. 4.5 stars.

I received a free proof copy of this novel from the publisher for review.

[Natalie Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, but was slightly disappointed with the ending.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bird, aka Heather, has realised it’s time for her to disappear. She knew that one day this moment would come & she’s fully prepared. She heads north and, using many name changes & disguises, she makes her way to Norway. The fact that Bird has no family of her own makes her disappearance easier, and although her journey becomes treacherous, I liked that she was a free soul.

You may already know the reason for Bird’s disappearance if you’ve read any other reviews, but I’m not going to include it here. I knew that Bird disappeared but I didn’t know why, and I liked that I found that out in the book rather than elsewhere.

As Bird keeps moving, she reflects on her past - her parents, her career and her short time in the Army where she met Flavia, who seems to be her only friend. And as she reflects, it begins to dawn on her that the reason for her disappearance was a set up.

I really enjoyed this novel, it’s very different from many other books I’ve read recently. I met Louise Doughty last month, and she was explaining how she took some time out to travel some of the places she mentions in the book and this was clearly evident in the descriptions of Bird’s surroundings. Although I’d not want to be in Bird’s actual shoes, it made me want to pack a bag & run away to where no one could find me!

An accomplished woman on the run novel. It may be publishing in summer, but it appeals to me as a great autumnal read, snuggled up in a blanket with a coffee!

[Mary Lins · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A Bird in Winter”, by Louise Doughty, is intriguing from the very first page!

Heather (“Bird”), in a typical office setting, responding to something her boss has just announced, gets up from the conference table and calmly flees. She FLEES!

She doesn’t just leave the room; she goes ON THE RUN for her life! Clearly, she’s some sort of operative because she knows exactly what to do to evade detection, grabbing her “go bag” and changing her appearance…all the spy-game things. It is extremely suspenseful and thrilling.

I thoroughly enjoyed how Doughty reveals Bird’s back story and how she came to her present predicament. The pace is perfect – the story moves along as quickly as Bird’s desperate flight – keeping the reader engaged, interested, and eager to know what’s going to happen next.

As the stakes, the action, and the twists ratchet up, this reader felt an “adrenaline rush” in solidarity with Bird’s existential flight.

“A Bird in Winter” would make a wonderful limited TV series!

[Roz Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up.

Bird is a woman on the run. One minute, she's in a meeting in her office in Birmingham - the next, she's walking out on her job, her home, her life. It's a day she thought might come, one she's prepared for. But nothing could prepare her for what will happen next.

As Bird tries to work out who exactly is on her trail, she must also decide who - if anyone - she can trust. Is her greatest fear that she will be hunted down, or that she will never be found?


We follow Bird as she tries to get away from an initially unknown threat. We don't know what made her run or why. As the story unfolds, we get Bird's internal thoughts and panic as she tries to escape, and we quickly realise she can't trust anyone.


This book is well written, and I enjoyed the way the story unfolded and I became more and more aware of why Bird was on the run. However, I found the pacing slow, and it wasn't as tense as I would have liked. I think partly because 90% of the book is Birds internal monologue rather than fast-paced action. I liked the atmosphere and the intriguing concept. I also like the split timelines of Bird thinking back over her life.


I loved Apple Tree Yard by this author and gave a slightly lower rating for this book as I didn't enjoy this quite as much!

[Tundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I really liked the espionage part of this story but I think that the amount of content given to Heather’s best friend didn’t really seem justified to the totality of the story. It felt like it was really going to be important as it was drip fed into the plot so I was ultimately a little disappointed that it didn’t become a major plot point.

[Lady Fancifull · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book somewhat at odds with itself and its marketing 3.5 rating

Louise Doughty’s novel about a woman who is somewhat caught between her nature as an outsider/loner whilst also being someone who is drawn to be within hierarchical organisations where individuality is not encouraged, is a book of oppositions which are not quite balanced or harmonious.

The book is marketed/blurbed as a page-turning, suspense driven story of spying. Its in reality, awfully slow, full of often beautiful descriptions of landscape. It could be in some ways a travelogue through the Scottish Highlands and Islands, and the solitary fastnesses of Northern Europe

Heather, nicknamed ‘Bird’ for no obvious reason, is the daughter of a father who worked in some capacity within the Secret Service, and a somewhat conventional seeming mother. So we understand that she was born into some sort of comfortable accommodation with lives where the surface of a life is hidden, and her father, as she discovers quite early is ‘a liar’.

Heather herself joins The Army. There’s a mismatch between what she expects her life to be, as a strong, intelligent woman, and the reality of what happens, at some point in the early 1990s. The women are marginalised, and worse. Bird leaves the army is some disgrace.

The novel, told in flashbacks. first introduces us, in a definitely tense opening, with Bird, now in her 50s, walking out of a mysterious meeting, and embarking on a meticulously planned flight. She is clearly (or clearly believes) that her life is threatened, with person or persons unknown likely to hunt her down, and, if caught, her fate may well be imprisonment, or something much much worse, depending on who exactly is hunting her, and why.

My challenge with this book is what the author chooses to reveal, and when. There’s a particular moment where a major incident (I won’t reveal this spoiler) gets somehow half revealed, but why, is withheld from us till much later. I almost wondered whether there was a realisation that the slow meander, the journey down some long ago memory lane, both in reality and in the mind, had dropped the ball of tension, so something was needed to wind us back in again.

For me, a kind of not quite gel between a more literary thriller, and the kind of psychological noir territory.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley

[Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down.

This is my first book by Louise Doughty, although I had seen the series "Apple Tree Yard" when it came out, which is also based on spies. I enjoyed this novel and read it very quickly, but as a spy novel/thriller it could have been better. The narrator, Heather, is a woman on the run, a spy who has become a target and must run, change her appearance, avoid detection, keep moving. This takes her from Coventry to Scotland, which takes a large part of the book; and then further in Northern Europe. I really enjoyed this part, at the beginning of the novel, as we know she is running from something but it gets a bit muddled further in the novel and I was disappointed whith the actual plot once everything became clear. There's a lot of background information which in the end did not feel useful to the story - they were used but did not feel vital, anything else could have been used instead and I got tired of reading about her dear friend she met in the army for pages and pages because - without spoiling the novel for everyone - I expected it to amount to a lot more than it actually did. And although I was rooting for the heroine, it just felt too easy and too convenient - there are almost no hurdles; she is on the run but seems to have endless bags of cash to buy new outfits every other day, and she finds inns and B&Bs almost everywhere... I kept hoping for a big twist and a big reveal and it fell a little bit short for me. It was well-written though; and I ended up reading it in one evening and one afternoon, so it was entertaining and pleasant - just unlikely to be very memorable for me.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[Maddie Grigg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heather is on the run and this crime/spy thriller in three parts takes us on Heather's perilous journey, The book gripped me from the outset as I wanted to know why Heather had found herself in this predicament. I was hooked and engaged, too, in the middle section when the reader learns more about Heather's story but the final 'denouement' (if it was in fact that) was predictable.. The third part felt a bit of a let down for me, a long 'travelogue' that lacked the suspense and danger of the first section. It was as if the roller coaster ride slowed down too soon for too long. Louise Doughty writes well and the characters were reasonably well realised, particularly the protagonist, although I did not much like her. I thought I would be giving this one more than three stars but felt strangely unsatisfied at how it turned out, particularly as it was clear to me early on who was going to be unmasked as the real 'villain' of the piece.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.