num_pages: 289
description: Howard Norman's The Bird Artist, the first book of his Canadian trilogy, begins in 1911. Its narrator, Fabian Vas is a bird artist: He draws and paints the birds of Witless Bay, his remote Newfoundland coastal village home. In the first paragraph of his tale Fabian reveals that he has murdered the village lighthouse keeper, Botho August. Later, he confesses who and what drove him to his crime—a measured, profoundly engrossing story of passion, betrayal, guilt, and redemption between men and women.The Bird Artist is a 1994 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.
language: English
title: The Bird Artist
titlecomplete: The Bird Artist
characters: Cora Holly, Fabian Vas, Orkney Vas, Botho August, Margaret Handle, Isaac Sprague, Enoch Handle, Paulette Bath, Romeo Gillette, Lambert Charibon, Alaric Vas
genres: Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Canada, Birds, Literature, Novels, Art, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 3655
places: Newfoundland and Labrador
series: Canadian Trilogy
awards: awardedAt: 757411200000
name: National Book Award Finalist
category: Fiction
publisher: Picador USA