Bird in the Snow

by Michael Harding

Bird in the Snow follows twenty-four hours in the life of Birdie Waters. On the eve of burying her only son, she stays awake all night, examining old photographs, cherishing memories of Gussie and her beloved late husband, Alex – a vet who married her because her dancing ability eclipsed the class difference between them. She recalls Gussie’s tragic death, his failed romance, and Louise, who for a while looked like the partner that might make her son happy. She remembers Hughie Donoghue, a flute player whom she has known since her marriage, and for whom she still feels intense but unspoken affection. When the funeral is over, and the mourners have all dined in the local hotel, she returns alone to her house, where each day is a kind of triumph, because she has survived a little longer. Bird in the Snow is the story of an old woman whose ordinary life is full of drama, love and passion, though perhaps nobody knows it but herself, because only she remembers everything. This delicately rendered narrative evokes the rural past of Birdie’s life in the Irish midlands, using memory to redress her bereavement through a series of poignant vignettes that crystallize into a powerful act of retrieval.

Genres: Fiction

197 pages

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading some of my favourite books during lockdown. Read 6-10th April 2020. This book is as good as I remembered it. Birdie’s voice is clear and unconventional. Michael Harding has an uncanny ability to imagine his way into the thoughts and emotions of an older woman.
Birdie is one of the most memorable female characters I have encountered in novels. Next up Judith Hearne.

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3.5 stars. A sweet, tender story about Birdie Waters, told to us by Birdie on the eve of laying her son to rest.

[Mary Killmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Staring at lakes

[Wickovski Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exquisite tale of beauty set in Co Fermanagh, Ireland