The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry Review

Title: The Birdcage Library

Author: Freya Berry

Genre: Historical Mystery

Publisher: Headline Review

Pages: 400

Release Date: 22 June 2023

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Hello fellow booklovers! Today I'm sharing my review of The Birdcage Library by Freya Berry. A deliciously gothic and utterly atmospheric, Daphne Du Maurier-style, historical mystery that will definitely have you on the edge of your seat.

Synopsis

 The answers to a puzzle lie hidden within an old book. Open The Birdcage Library and let the treasure hunt begin...

The year is 1882, and the most important thing, unknown reader, is this: The man I love is trying to kill me.

It's 1932 and adventuress and plant-hunter Emily Blackwood accepts a commission from Heinrich Vogel, a former dealer of exotic animals in Manhattan, living now with his macabre collection in a remote Scottish castle.

Emily is tasked to find a long-lost treasure which Heinrich believes has been hidden within the castle walls. But instead she discovers the pages of a diary, written by Hester Vogel, who died after falling from the Brooklyn Bridge.

Hester's diary leads Emily to an old book The Birdcage Library and into a treasure hunt of another kind, one that will take her down a dangerous path for clues, and force her to confront her own darkest secret...

Review

I absolutely devoured this!

The clever, mystery within a mystery-style plot was incredible! I genuinely had no idea where things were heading 90% of the time—with the other 10% spent marvelling at how intricately devised even the smallest and inconsequential of details was.

I adored how rich and atmospherically visceral the descriptions were and felt they definitely helped bring 19th C New York and 1930s Scotland to life. I was also equally impressed by the depth and complexity Freya Berry manages to imbue her characters with. Even the more antagonistic characters, prone to bouts of cruelty and avarice were really well written and intriguing (though not nearly as in-depth as Emily or Hester.)

Emily, our bright and determined adventurer had such an emotional story arc that I couldn’t help but root for her to succeed, and overcome her struggles (including alcohol dependency, survivors’ guilt and her distant relationship with her father.)

Hester, (whose life we explore solely through the pages of old journals) was also a really compelling character who, much like the vibrant birds in her husband’s emporium, yearns for something more meaningful than the gilded cage she’s been thrust into.

We do encounter a lot of real historical figures such as Mamie Fish, Hyatt Frost and Lord Rothschild, which I thoroughly enjoyed—though historical purists should probably take note that there has been some creative licence taken with some of their stories/ personal lives.

Freya is clearly a master at her craft and I look forward to reading more of her work —She’s definitely a new auto buy author for me.

Overall, an immersive and exquisitely suspenseful, slow-burn historical fiction with twists and turns that mystery loving sleuths definitely need to add to their TBRs ASAP!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

About The Author 

Freya Berry has always loved stories, but it took several years as a journalist to realise she loves the kind of truth that lies in fiction, not reality. (Or, to put it another way, making stuff up is more fun.)

Her second novel, The Birdcage Library, is published June 22nd: think books within books and a literary treasure hunt packed with twists. A 1930s adventuress discovers an old book containing clues about the disappearance of a woman who vanished 50 years before. Set between a Scottish castle in the 1930s and an exotic animal emporium in Gilded Age New York, it's a gothic tale of secrets, obsession and murder. Oh, and taxidermy.

Her first novel The Dictator's Wife, a high-stakes exploration of power, glamour and complicity, was published in 2022. It was shortlisted for the Authors' Club First Novel Award, a pick for the BBC's flagship book show Between The Covers, and The New European's novel of the year.

Freya lives in London and graduated with a double first in English from Cambridge.

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