Set in Newfoundland at the turn of the century, this brief but moving novel explores the confined world of its inhabitants and a defining murder. Fabian Vas is a “bird artist,” he draws and paints the birds around him, particularly waterfowl. We also know from the first paragraph that he is the one who committed murder. How this came to be is slowly revealed in the first person narration of his story. Isolated much of the year by weather and the rest of the time by remoteness, only the mail boats regularly escape the village and its close-knit relationships. When Fabian’s father embarks on a months-long trip to hunt birds to make money for a trip New Brunswick to meet the fourth cousin that his parents have arranged for Fabian to marry, his mother takes up with the lighthouse keeper. This sets in motion the events that lead to his death. An economical yet intense exploration of passion, guilt and redemption. 289 pp.
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