A Thousand Paper Birds

by Tor Udall

Overview

Jonah sits on a bench in Kew Gardens, trying to reassemble the shattered pieces of his life following the sudden death of his wife, Audrey. Chloe, shaven-headed and abrasive, sits by the lake, finding solace in the origami she meticulously folds. But when she meets Jonah, her carefully constructed defences threaten to fall. Milly, a child quick to laugh, freely roams Kew. But where is her mother, and where does she go when the gardens are closed? Harry's purpose is to save Kew's plants from extinction. Quiet and enigmatic, he longs for something - or someone - who will root him firmly to the earth. Audrey links these lives together. As the mystery of her death unravels, the characters journey through the seasons to learn that stories, like paper, can be refolded and reformed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408878668
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Publication date:	05/03/2018
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.72(h) x 0.87(d)

About the Author

After studying theater and film at Bristol University, Tor Udall co-founded a dance-theatre company and spent most of her twenties directing, writing, and performing. A theater piece she directed won the opportunity to be performed on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre, and she also choreographed an opera for the Royal College of Music. She lives in London with her husband and two young children. A Thousand Paper Birds is her first novel.
@TorUdall

Editorial Reviews

"A masterful exploration of love, loss and the healing power of the natural world. Like Max Porter's Grief is a Thing With Feathers, it uses fable, mystery and a poetic sensibility to get at the nub of loss . . . Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure." - Observer

"Abundant and richly suggestive . . . Udall weaves a complex story about the mysterious ways a life can linger, like a scent, and how grief and love can sometimes feel so vast and overwhelming that no earthly landscape can contain them." - Daily Mail

"A rich and intricate debut, at once subtle and powerful, intent and reflective, lyrical and visceral, expertly cultivating an abundance of life from all that remains after death." - James Hannah, author of THE A TO Z OF YOU AND ME

"A moving story as intricate and elegant as the origami birds that Chloe, one of the characters, folds. I loved this whimsical debut novel." - Red, "Summer Reads"

"Unputdownable fiction . . . Poetic and finely wrought." - Eithne Farry, Sunday Express

"A story of death and its aftermath, which lingers long after the last page." - Independent

"An extraordinary, enchanting book. Writing as fine and precise as a botanical sketch, gorgeously arty themes, powerful yet fragile imagery and a brilliant story—this is a book to love and treasure." - Tracy Rees, author of AMY SNOW

"This novel is all about seeing a 'scarred loveliness' in a damaged world." - Psychologies

"A poetic exploration of those most difficult of topics, grief and love, against the backdrop of Kew Gardens . . . Udall deftly leads the reader through the tangled web of relationships binding each of these four people to Audrey, whose own story comes to be revealed through her diaries." - Scotsman

"Magical, memorable and one I will treasure." - Ali Land, bestselling author of GOOD ME, BAD ME

"I've fallen in love with this outstanding, eloquent book . . . It's sublime. It's one of the most beautiful books I have EVER read. It touches your soul." - Nina Pottell, Books Editor for PRIMA MAGAZINE

"A delicate and beautiful unfolding of grief, loss, love and the way that lives intersect. Insightful and inventive." - Ann Morgan, author of BESIDE MYSELF

"What a joy it was to read A Thousand Paper Birds, a lovely clockwork of a novel . . . May it FLY!" - Shelley Harris, author of JUBILEE

"A Thousand Paper Birds brings Kew Gardens, and the people who meet each other there, to life with vivid language." - Yorkshire Post

"Absolutely wonderful. It has the emotional integrity of One Day and the complexity and character depth of Cloud Atlas . . . An incredible achievement." - Deborah Install, author of A ROBOT IN THE GARDEN

"Outstanding . . . This book is packed with phrases and dialogue that took away my breath, and occasionally brought tears to my eyes. It is so, so intricate, so perfectly balanced. A beautiful novel that should be savoured and treasured, and will be remembered for a long time." - Random Things Through My Letterbox

From the Publisher

2017-08-06
Five characters—two of whom are ghosts—are linked, in part, by the time they spend at Kew Gardens in London.Udall's debut novel introduces a music teacher, Jonah Wilson, who gave up a recording career so he and his late wife, Audrey, could try to start a family. Readers learn through the remembrances of Jonah and another man named Harry Barclay that Audrey, a linguist, had a series of miscarriages before she died and had been visiting Harry, who cares for plants at Kew. Harry looks after Milly, a little girl who loves the gardens as much as he does, but something is amiss—Harry warns her away from some Kew visitors, and others can't see Harry or Milly. Jonah meets Chloe Adams in the gardens, where she's preparing for an exhibit of her elaborate paper art and origami. Udall folds all of this into a story about grief, pain, and longing but also love, friendship, and desire. Details about Audrey's lost pregnancies and Jonah's life as a widower are vivid, and botanical and historical information about Kew Gardens add interest. The supernatural aspects of the story distract from rather than enhance it, though. Some of the prose is a bit overwrought, as in this passage about Jonah on a sleepless night: "He lumbers from room to room, switching on lights, wearing only a T-shirt. His lower half is naked, as vulnerable as a child's." The big reveals about what happened to Audrey, who Harry and Milly are, and what will become of Jonah and Chloe come quickly one after the other, lending a slightly rushed feel to the end of the book, although there is room for readers to come to their own conclusions. A quirky debut novel, heartfelt in its portrayal of human emotions, pleasantly surprising, but slightly overdone.

Kirkus Reviews