READING ROOM: the latest page-turners, plus a Great Read by Charlotte McConaghy

“If I were capable of staying any place it might be here. But the birds won’t stay, and neither will I.” Franny is alone in remote Greenland as she tags one of the world’s last flock of Arctic terns so she can follow them on what she believes will be their last migration home. The narrator of this mesmerising tale of love, loss and redemption, set in a time when wildlife is becoming extinct, is like a wild creature herself, constantly searching for the nest where she will find her family. Franny is a mix of strength and fragility, and her journey is as much about the birds as it is about running from a traumatic past.

Inspiration for the novel came from many places, author Charlotte McConaghy says. “In Ireland I found a home for my protagonist, Franny. In Iceland I learnt about the greyling geese and became fascinated with migratory birds – and the people who study them. But when I learned about the Arctic terns and their extraordinarily long flight, from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back again each year, I knew I wanted to write a book about the courage of that journey as a metaphor for the courage we need in order to face the loss of our wild animals. And when I learnt that in the last 50 years alone, humans have killed more than

60 per cent of all wild animals, I was heartbroken and knew this was the