A New Dawn at Owl’s Lodge – Jessica Redland

I was utterly thrilled to have been gifted the opportunity to read and review Jessica Redland’s latest novel, A New Dawn at Owl’s Lodge, hoping to meet some typically wonderful new characters at Bumblebee Barn, as well as making some new acquaintances. To say that I enjoyed this book would be an understatement. No sooner had I finished its strigine pages, I wanted to start again, desperate to feed on any scraps of information that I may have missed the first time around, in my hurried attempt to find out what happened! This book was a book of extremes – fun, yet at times utterly heartbreaking; a thought provoking read. If this book were to be an owl, it would be a screech owl, due to the fact that at times the story had me screeching with laughter! My nocturnal instincts were also brought to the fore, when I got so immersed in my read, that I ended up staying up all night finishing this book, accompanied by the usual nighttime silence, interspersed with the occasional vocal pingpong from the local owl network.

I couldn’t have been more pleased that ‘Bamber’ (gorgeous farmer Barney and Amber, the beautiful, talented TV producer) was still going strong, and could only hope that some of their relationship might rub off on Amber’s singleton assistant Zara. Zara’s attention to detail and clear organisational skills, took me back to my old Brownie Guide days and our leader, Brown Owl. As an aside, I was reading about the Brown Owl, AKA the Tawny owl, and saw that ‘it’s underparts are pale with dark streaks’, but of course for underparts I initially read ‘underpants’, so was momentarily confused, and then got the giggles! The number of Tawny owls is on the decline, so I stand by identifying Zara as one, were she to be an owl, due to her gorgeous temperament making her ‘one in a million’, her loyalty, and the fact that she would do anything to protect the inhabitants of her nest. In addition Zara seemed wise beyond her years, like the anecdotal cerebral characteristic of the owl.

It was great to reconnect with the human marvel that is Fizz. It’s difficult to describe with any degree of accuracy what it is about her; nice sounds too weak – but if you could bottle her character and enthusiasm and distribute it, you would earn a fortune.

I loved the descriptions of the countryside, and especially of the farm. Indeed Jessica Redland seems to pull her readers in, such that you almost feel as though you are actually there. Reading this book actually instilled a sense of peace and relaxation within me, without even needing to leave the house! I did however feel a sense of sadness with regard to Zara’s home, life and the fact that she preferred being at Bumblebee Farm, to being at ‘home’ with her family, especially with her Mother trying to force some kind of ‘Happy Families’ relationship between Zara and her Brother, Roman. I so felt for Zara at her Brother’s birthday party, after she had given up her own plans to placate her Mother…again. As for Zara’s memories of Family Christmases – it broke my heart. Thank goodness for Owen, the only shining light in her family, despite not being a blood relative. However, does a family visit to Bumblebee Farm augur well for Zara’s future relationship with her Mother? At least Socks seemed to love Zara, and she was sure of a happy Christmas enveloped in the arms of Bumblebee Barn. But is Zara hiding something? Is she more bothered than she appears, about being single? Without a doubt, Zara’s strength of character shines though, with how she ultimately treats her brother.

I liked the subtle humour in the book. It tickled me at the Christmas church service, when as the congregation sang Ding Dong Merrily on High, the candles in the church were extinguished – it sounded as though Amber’s terrible singing could have been to blame for the wax blackout! Nevertheless, the service sounded enchanting, and despite me reading this book in the spring, I made a mental note to myself to check out any local Christmas services. Amber’s first meeting with Snowy and Harrison certainly made me chuckle, too.

I felt saddened at the introduction to Snowy (a shy, secretive long eared owl, were he to be an ow) and his Son, Harrison (he would be a northern hawk owl – active during the day) – mainly due to the fact that Snowy seemed embarrassed about something, resulting in them both wearing hats everywhere, whilst out of the house. Snowy seems to have an enormous chip (or two) on his shoulder, and it’s a bit of a mystery as to why. How and why did his career end! He certainly doesn’t seem keen on talking about it! One thing was for certain though – he seemed to share Zara’s penchant for bad memories of Christmas. On a positive note, Zara’s first meeting with Snowy seemed to go well, and I felt sure I could detect the feint aroma of mutual attraction. Indeed it wasn’t just painful memories of Christmas Daddy issues and large chips on their shoulders that the pair had in common. For a snowy to wonder ‘what it must feel like to wake up on your birthday feeling excitement rather than dread’ was utterly heartbreaking. Pops (he would be a wise, spectacled owl) does a marvellous job of providing adhesiveness to the family. It was very telling that Snowy had never jumped on a trampoline just for fun, so I could see why he seemed to be mesmerised by the sight of Zara literally jumping for the sheer joy of it, bouncing with pure abandon, without a care in the world. The description of Snowy’s skills had me mesmerised; quite an achievement for such a sheer visual display!

Owl’s Lodge sounded like heaven, and just reading a description of it caused me to go into holiday/full relaxation mode. I didn’t just want to read about it; it was described in such a beautiful manner, that I just wanted be there! Whilst It was obvious that wild birds, in particular owls, were able to heal at Snowy’s home, may I put out there the possibility that Owl’s Lodge may inadvertently contribute towards the rehabilitation and healing of humans too?

The old adage is to be careful what you wish for – but what if you get what you wished for, only to realise that you don’t want it after all, and maybe you want something else altogether!

I look forward to learning more about the story of Owl’s Lodge.