Featherhood: The best piece of nature writing since H is for Hawk and the most powerful work of bio

This narrative weaves the lives of birds and fathers. It begins with a young magpie that tumbles out of its nest in a Bermondsey junkyard, landing unexpectedly in Charlie Gilmour’s world, where it brings swift transformation. This magpie, constantly hungry for worms, flips through his wallet, joins him in baths, and finds comfort roosting in his hair. Meanwhile, the story also touches on the presence of a jackdaw kept at a grand estate in Cornwall by Heathcote Williams. Heathcote, an anarchist, poet, magician, and the man known as Charlie's biological father, vanished from Charlie's life under mysterious circumstances. This tale delves into generational patterns and the inherent connection with birds, exploring fears of repeating paternal misdeeds while yearning to create a unique sanctuary. It reflects on transformation—from untamed to domesticated, sanity to insanity, life to death, and then to new beginnings. A cycle of freedom and confinement that passes through an asylum, a prison, and a magpie’s nest. Above all, it unfolds as a tender story of connection between a man and a magpie.