The bird artist cover

The bird artist

by Howard A. Norman

The Bird Artist, Howard Norman's spellbinding new novel, is set in Newfoundland in 1911. Fabian Vas's story, told with disarming simplicity and grace, takes place against a spare and profoundly beautiful landscape where the most powerful of emotions stand out starkly against naked rock, sea and sky. At age twenty, Fabian is working at the boat yard, taking a correspondence course in bird painting, and sleeping with Margaret Handle, a woman of great beauty, intelligence and waywardness - though his parents are determined to marry him to a distant relation he has never met. Then his father leaves on a long hunting expedition, his mother takes up with the lighthouse keeper, Botho August, and Fabian's world loses most of its bearings. The Bird Artist reveals the fire at the heart of human interactions with a rare and enthralling directness.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?