Max Porter was born in 1981 and works in publishing. He lives in South London with his wife and children. Grief is the Thing with Feathers is his first book.
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
Once upon a time there was a crow, a fairly famous Crow, who wanted nothing more than to care for a pair of motherless children…
In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother’s sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness. In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow – antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him. This extraordinary debut, full of unexpected humour and emotional truth, marks the arrival of a thrilling and significant new talent.
Read an interview with Max Porter by Sunday Times Literary Editor Andrew Holgate in The Sunday Times.