
"Jim Kennoway was once an esteemed member of the ornithology department at the Museum of Natural History in New York, collecting and skinning birds as specimens. Slowing down from a hard-lived life and a recent leg amputation, Jim retreats to an island in Maine: to drink, smoke, and to be left alone. As a young man he worked for Naval Intelligence during World War II in the Solomon Islands. While spying on Japanese shipping from behind enemy lines, Jim befriended Tosca, a young islander who worked with him as a scout. Now, thirty years later, Tosca has sent his daughter Cadillac to stay with Jim in the weeks before she begins premedical studies at Yale. She arrives to Jim's consternation, yet she will capture his heart and the hearts of everyone she meets, irrevocably changing their lives."--Amazon.com
Publisher:
New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2014
ISBN:
9780802121042
0802121047
0802121047
Branch Call Number:
FIC Gree
Characteristics:
xvi, 312 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm



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Add a Comment"Bitter, isolated Jim Kennoway used to be known for his work in the field of ornithology, but the death of his wife and the recent loss of his leg have changed him. He's retreated to a tiny island off the coast of Maine, where he's probably going to drink himself to death. But the unexpected arrival of the daughter of a friend from his days in the service during World War II changes his plans.The Bird Skinner visits several different islands and their birdlife. These settings are captured in author Alice Greenway's meticulously chosen words as well as in drawings throughout the book." Fiction A to Z February 2014 newsletter http://www.libraryaware.com/996/NewsletterIssues/ViewIssue/5fdf91da-47ce-498a-9809-d124d568f696?postId=8c92a5c1-369b-4131-85d1-534a1bd46a6b