This award-winning novel is brilliantly human, witty and original.
The star of the novel and its narrator is Tama, a young magpie who is rescued as a chick by Marnie, a kind-hearted farmer’s wife. Tama doesn’t know what to make of his new human carer and her husband Rob, a sheep farmer facing hard times, but he settles in and observes the couple’s relationship. He feels deeply protective of Marnie who is abused by her husband and very much alone in the isolated location. Tama can speak and the couple end up putting him on social media, reviving their finances and gaining a whole new fame thanks to the bird’s wit and novelty. When he’s outside, Tama’s family warn him that humans are wicked and not to be trusted. Meanwhile, he observes and worries about Marnie’s increasingly precarious situation. The story’s unexpected and dramatic conclusion is sparked by the community’s annual strong-man contest, the Axeman’s Carnival, in which Rob is a contestant. Tama, both wily and innocent, says so much about the relationship he observes, about modern human society and the dangers we face.
Everywhere, the birds: sparrows and skylarks and thrushes, starlings and bellbirds, fantails and pipits - but above them all and louder, the magpies. We are here and this is our tree and we're staying and it is ours and you need to leave and now.
Tama is just a helpless chick when he is rescued by Marnie, and this is where his story might have ended. 'If it keeps me awake,' says Marnie's husband Rob, a farmer, 'I'll have to wring its neck.' But with Tama come new possibilities for the couple's future. Tama can speak, and his fame is…
This global bestseller is hilarious and truly original.
It features the truly original character Elizabeth Zott, a research chemist who is determined to be her own woman even in sexist 1960s California. Sexism prevents Zott making it as a chemist, but she becomes a reluctant star when she becomes the host of a popular TV cooking show.
When the novel opens it’s the early 1960s and the only man who takes Zott seriously at her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute is the tall, awkward, brilliant Calvin Evans. The two lonely chemists from sad backgrounds fall in love. A few years later, Zott is a single mother to their brilliant daughter and the host of Supper at Six where her unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves surprisingly popular as she advises women to claim their place in the world while offering scientific cooking lessons. This witty book says so much about sexism. Unfortunately, so much of it still applies to the present day.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” (PARADE) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel. It reminds you that change takes time and always requires heat” (The New York Times Book Review).
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Newsweek, GoodReads
"A unique heroine ... you'll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional." —Seattle Times…
Another fascinating evolutionary study from Dawkins.
I have long been a fan of the work of Richard Dawkins, a renowned biologist and a brilliant writer, famous for such works as The Selfish Gene, and The Blind Watchman.
In his latest book, Dawkins posits that living organisms can be read as documents describing the ancient worlds in which their ancestors evolved and survived. For example, a camouflaged lizard features a desert landscape of sand and stones on its back. This adaptation is not just skin deep as such adaptations run throughout the entire animal. In this book, replete with wonderful photos and illustrations, Dawkins shows how the genes, body, and behavior of each living creature can be read as a book which records the worlds in which its ancestors evolved and will allow future zoologists to decode an animal’s ancestral history, to read its unique genetic template.
A decades-old secret. A missing woman. A private investigator with everything to prove. Newly minted PI Paula Moore takes on her first case: finding Marion Taylor, who vanished from Portsmouth, England, years ago. Paula’s search leads her across the ocean to San Francisco—only to discover Marion has changed her name, returned to England, and taken a pet-sitting job with a hidden purpose. Marion isn’t just watching two dogs—she’s confronting the ghost of a childhood attack that’s haunted her for decades. As Paula closes in, the women’s paths collide in unexpected ways. What begins as a simple missing person’s case becomes a powerful story of friendship, healing, and second chances. “Author Carol Moreira has masterfully weaved a twisty tale of revenge and redemption when trauma survivor Marilyn arrives to pet-sit in the picturesque city of Portsmouth—and disgraced police officer Paula is mysteriously assigned to track her down. Fast-paced, yet adorned with Moreira’s delicate grace notes of the everyday human condition, Moreira’s fine writing draws one in immediately. Her insightful crafting of the characters of The Pet-Sit and her depictions of the city of Portsmouth are wonderfully immersive, and will stay with you long after you finish the final page. If you are looking for a suspenseful read that thoughtfully addresses the impact of trauma on survivors of a crime, I highly recommend Carol Moreira’s The Pet-Sit.” —Pamela Callow, author of the international bestselling Kate Lange Thriller Series
