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The Conjurer's Bird Paperback – 22 Aug 2006

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Martin Davies (Author)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA); Reprint edition (22 Aug. 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1400097347
  • ISBN-13: 978-1400097340
  • Product Dimensions: 13.2 x 2.8 x 20.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 909,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Martin Davies Page
Martin Davies
Martin Davies grew up in North West England. All his writing is done in cafes, on buses or on tube trains, and an aversion to laptops means that he always works in longhand. He lives in London and works as a consultant in the broadcasting industry.

Martin Davies has travelled widely, including in the Middle East and India, and he often plots his novels while abroad; substantial parts of The Unicorn Road were written while travelling through Sicily, and his plan for The Conjuror's Bird was put together on a trekking holiday in Greenland.

Martin Davies' books have been translated into twelve languages.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
"Extinct before it was ever really discovered..."
By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWER on 6 Jan. 2006
Format: Hardcover
Combining natural history, a number of exciting mysteries, and several love stories, author Martin Davies tells the story of a modern day search for the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta, a single example of which was discovered during Captain Cook's second expedition, mounted, and then lost. As the novel opens, famed researcher of extinct birds John Fitzgerald is visited by a former lover from Brazil whose current lover is now in London, trying to locate the remains of this bird for the Ark Project, a program to collect rare or extinct DNA. Fitzgerald refuses a $50,000 offer, having decided to search for the bird himself.
The attempt to locate the bird draws the reader into the story of Sir Joseph Banks, the lead naturalist on Captain Cook's first voyage in 1768. Scheduled to hold the same position on the second voyage in 1772, Banks decided at the last minute not to go. That voyage, on which the bird was discovered, took place without him, but Johann Forster, the man who replaced him, give this bird to Banks upon his return. Banks displayed it for four years, until it inexplicably vanished from his collection.
The second expedition was notable for another event, however. When Cook's ship stopped in Madeira, a "Mr. Burnett" was waiting to join the ship as part of Banks's party. After hearing that Banks was not aboard, Mr. Burnett hurriedly returned to England, but Capt. Cook found him odd enough to record that "Every part of Mr. Burnett's behaviour and every action tended to prove that he was a Woman." The "Mr. Burnett" story combines with the biography of Joseph Banks as a dramatic and moving love story here, as John Fitzgerald, investigating, thinks "Burnett" may be the key to finding the remains of the bird of Ulieta.Read more ›
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A very good summer read
By Federhirn on 18 July 2010
Format: Hardcover
The "Richard and Judy book club" sticker on the front made me quite dubious about this book. The £1 price tag, on the other hand, tempted me, along the promise of mystery and adventure.

The Conjuror's Bird is a novel set in two times: the present and the late 1700s. The narratives unfold in parallel, with a piece of present always followed by a piece of past. In the present, our hero is a taxidermist / specialist in extinct birds / academic / former conservationist, Fitz. In the past, our heroes are Joseph Banks and Mary Burton.

At the centre of the story is the Mysterious Bird of Ulieta - a bird that was discovered by explorers, shot, drawn, stuffed, and taken home to Britain to be classified. It would have been less mysterious if another bird of that species had ever been encountered again, but this was not to be. The stuffed bird disappeared from the historic record after making a brief appearance in Joseph Banks' collection.

The story of Fitz is a detective story. He and his allies and competing factions are trying to find the bird, against the odds. The story of Joseph Banks is a romance story. He has been mesmerised by a woman that he cannot ever marry because of her different status.

At first, the book starts out being exactly what I feared it might be. Easy reading, competently written but without anything really interesting going on. A slight sprinkling of mystery in an otherwise bland piece of writing by the numbers - exactly the sort of thing that Richard and Judy seemingly adore. The story in the present flows easily and is full of small cliffhangers. The story in the past is written in a different tone, but not a beautiful one.Read more ›
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delightful
By heyjude on 27 July 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
A super book, beautifully written, interesting and well researched. I have ordered 2 other books by this author on the strength of The Conjurer's Bird! As has been written by others this book slips between the present and the 18th century seamlessly. The copy that I ordered had little extras that other copies did not have so I was also quite pleased with that! Highly recommended - especially if you like well written novels based around historical facts.
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Fantastic read
By A. McCubbin-Green on 12 Oct. 2007
Format: Paperback
I happened to pick this book up because the blurb on the back sounded interesting, and was rewarded by a well written, fast paced, excellent story. The chapters alternate between the past and the present, and are equally absorbing. I couldn't put the book down, Martin Davies is a talented storyteller.
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