Featherbones

by Thomas Brown

Felix walks the same way to work through Southampton every morning, and the same way home again in the evenings. His life up to this point feels like one day repeated over and over; a speck of silt caught in the city's muddied waters. Sometimes it is all he can do to sit and watch while the urban sprawl races indifferently around him. But when the city stares back at him, one evening after work, everything changes.


He doesn't see the statue's head move, but he feels its eyes on him, studying him from its lofty perch in East Park. From then on he continues to glimpse it, or something like it, encroaching with every visitation. With it come memories, spilling through the streets, crawling through the dark, haunting his night-time flat, until he isn't quite sure what is real anymore and what is imagined, in this hard, grey place where the gulls watch him sleep...

ebook

First published February 1, 2016

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featherbones is the second of Thomas Brown's novels that I have read and I think that I enjoyed this more than "Lynnwood", which I loved. Having made this statement, however, the book is going to be hard to review without telling readers too much about the plot.

Felix, the main character, is a young graduate, living his rather mundane life in Southampton. The highlight of his week is his Friday night drinking binge with his workmate and long-time friend, Michael. All seems fairly commonplace, until an event acts as a trigger for Felix to fall, swoop, descend into unreality.

The novel looks back to Felix's traumatic childhood - so many events that could lead to an uncertain future for Felix's mental health. Looking into the past, we meet Felix's father, his teacher, his very best friend, Harriet and a man who was supposed to be helping Felix overcome his disturbed childhood.

What I love about this novel is that it works on several levels and is open to different interpretations. For me, it is about guilt, repression, sexuality and the need for each of us to know ourselves. It is about acceptance, love and trust.

Thomas Brown writes such beautiful prose; Featherbones is worth reading for this alone. However there is much more to appreciate - a fine, thought-provoking novel.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing the book for me to read, in exchange for an honest review.

[Daisy Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing in this book will enchant and devour you until you feel as though it is your feet trudging the familiar streets of a wet and unforgiving Southampton.. truly crafted with talent. Prepare to lose yourself and your sense of reality.

[Ionia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What to call this experience? Magical realism doesn't quite fit right. Magical-psychological-philosophical-realism. Maybe. This is a book that will be unlike any other that you have read, and that, for this reviewer, is why it earned 4 solid stars.

There are some very well crafted passages in this book, and some amazing uses of language. It is really the beautiful language, in my opinion, that makes this a book worth the time to read and share with others. I liked the characters, especially the Main character and one of the secondary characters. I liked the way the story developed and the way the reader is never quite sure if what is happening is actual reality or just the imaginings of a confused mind.

If you enjoy reading books that make you think, and make you wonder at the author's ability to turn every day ordinary into something else, something a bit more extraordinary, then I recommend this book to you.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is beautiful, poetic, descriptive. The story can be hard to follow at times, and it feels very heavy. I had to take a lot of breaks between reading sessions. Overall, be ready to feel the emotions and enjoy the prose.

[P.D. Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The deep mewing of a gull draws Felix from his dreams.’

The opening line to Thomas Brown’s second novel sets the tone perfectly for what is to come. You could say that Felix never fully wakes from his dreams, for he sees winged creatures wherever he looks, he sees the dark waters of the sea, he sees the feathered arms of his friends, he sees the haunting embers of his dreams, in the cold and soulless monotony of his life.

As the story progresses we see how Felix didn’t always have trouble with his dreams, not since he was young and his father sent him to a doctor to cure them, but his nightmares have returned, and they begin to invade his personal life. They stem from the fact his life seems to have no direction; something is holding him back, something that he didn’t face when he was younger. Loss is heavy on his mind, a loss that manifests itself in the very town where he lives, for he is surrounded by the sea, and the sea is brought to him on the salty air, and by the gulls that seem to be everywhere, and there seems to be no way out.

But all is not lost; he finds solace in his friend Michael, who is both his friend and work colleague. It is Michael who he turns to when he needs to talk, and Michael helps him to see that his dreams are running wild because he blames himself for Harriet’s drowning, a girl that Felix knew when he was just 13, but lost her to the dark waters of a flood. It isn’t until he realises this that he finds the route, or at least a part of the route, to his unhappiness. It however doesn’t dissolve the monotony of his job, of drunken nights out, or the meaninglessness of his life. For that he has to search further, he has to fall deeper within himself, to sink beneath the waves of his dreams, for he must first find the bottom, before he can hope to resurface from the silt of his life.

The book works on many different levels, and I was surprised how Brown managed to keep the description fresh, without ever falling into the trap of monotony, which could have easily happened in a story like this that relies on a certain amount of repetition for effect. Also the characterisation in the story was pitch perfect, Michael’s was especially rich, but subtle in its crafting. And just a note on some other reviews I have read, saying that the description was too much, or that the editing could have been sharper, well I couldn’t disagree more. I didn’t feel there were any unnecessary passages, and the prose was so varied and lyrical, I was happy that an editor hadn’t sabotaged it by making it needlessly more succinct.

I hope I have whetted your appetite for Featherbones, for I feel everybody can gain something from reading it. It’s one of those novels that can give the reader what they’re willing, or able to take from it. Some may not see the depth or the ingenuity of Brown’s allegorical prose; some may float upon the surface of its richness, but never truly delve into its waters, perhaps through fear of drowning. But I personally feel this book is rich, lyrical, and rhythmic like the sea itself, and one of the best books I’ve read in a long time

***** Five Stars

[M F · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn't come out until next year, so I'm not sure as I should be reviewing it already -- I've never had one quite so far in advance before! I received this from NetGalley in exchange for a review and I'm giving it a go -- no spoilers here, but I'm putting it under a spoiler tag simply because the book doesn't come out until February and I guess I should let people make up their own minds? Basically.


This was, for me, rather an odd read. It was beautifully written in places -- dozens of lines that I highlighted because they were gorgeous. In many ways it felt more like a poem than a novel, like it could have been a long concept poem instead of a piece of prose. In some ways, I wonder if it should have been. It was much more about Felix's mind, and the world he sees (trippy and unreal is it is) than any sort of plot; things happen, but they're secondary. As a result, I couldn't say so much that I was gripped or enthralled or captivated, because there was no underlying story thread to catch my attention. But I did find myself looking for answers in Felix's search, and the beautiful narrative was rewarding in itself.

I don't habitually read such 'literary' books -- I've always been more interested in books with an obvious plot -- but this was an interesting one, with the interplay of dreams and reality. It reminded me a little of 'The Dream Life of Sukhanov' by Olga Grushin, one of my favourite books, because of that breakdown of the border between wakefulness and dreams, but I felt it suffered from not having enough of a plot to support those explorations and emotions.

But, that's probably just because I tend to read less introspective, character-based books.

So yeah, it was a little hard to decide what I thought of it. Was it good? It was well-written, and it had a lot of emotion in it, but I didn't come away from it feeling like I'd gone through some life-changing experience. I won't be pressing it into the prone hands of everybody I meet, but I might be sharing pretty quotes with them via Tumblr, you know? It's that kind of in-betweeny sort-of liked it and sort-of wished there was more plot feeling.

[Jacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book from Sparkling Books Ltd. and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review so here it is :

My proper rating for this book would be 1.5 stars. Featherbones was a very different kind of book, something that I have never read before. I really wanted to like this book because Thomas' writing was very poetic. There were many passages that were beautifully written, but sadly and honestly, I ended up not liking this book much at all. I did not feel connected to the story or the characters, which was a huge blow-off for me. It had a unique story and I appreciated that, along with the beautiful writing, but overall I did not enjoy it.

[Polly Krize · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful, poetic writing about the everyday lives of Felix and Michael. Walking in the grey rain, through the grey city, birds are encountered and become almost magical. This one will make you think.

[Amanda]

DNF - 30%