BIRD IN THE SNOW

TITLE: BIRD IN THE SNOW
AUTHOR: MICHAEL HARDING
Pages: 197
Date: 22/02/2009
Grade: 3
Details: Reading Group Book for February
Library

This book, as the grade shows, just wasn't for me. And that was a shame because I really did want to like it.
Maybe it didn't work for me because the writing was just too sparse. I need more detail to make characters and events come to life. Or maybe it failed because I couldn't feel any connection to or sympathy for any of the characters in the book. I really couldn't care less about any of them, and with the subject matter of this book being what it is, that was regrettable.
This book tells the story of 24 hours in the life of Birdie. She is in her eighties and getting ready to bury her only son. During the, mostly sleepless, night before the funeral, Birdie thinks about the past with the aid of photographs her memories. During moments of semi-sleep she appears to be visited by ghosts from the past.
I really liked the idea of this woman looking back on her life. but whereas it worked for me in Sebastian Barry's "The Secret Scripture", it didn't do anything for me this time around. Maybe because Birdie's memories were a bit like photographs; just showing pictures, but not explaining anything.
Yet, this wasn't a hard book to read. The writing is beautiful, words well chosen and measured. The only thing lacking for me was a story to grip me.