Finished "The Cormorant" by Stephen Gregory
This book makes for somewhat grim reading and in the end I wasn't quite sure who to feel sorry for.
A young family who have just had a child move to a small Welsh village after inheriting a house from a distant relative but it comes with a strange clause on it; they must also care for a rescued Cormorant that their benefactor cared for until he died. As a consequence, their dreams of an idyllic rural retreat turn into a hellish nightmare as they struggle to accommodate this strange bird into their lives.
The Cormorant itself makes a fantastic and shocking entrance to the story, stalking from its crate and sending streaming arcs of faeces onto their furniture as they foolishly open its container in their living room. Its arrogant pride, violent temper and vile appearance paints a vivid picture in the mind of the reader.
The Cormorant seems to affect each member of the family in different ways. The child becomes enamoured with it, irresistibly drawn to it on every occasion. The mother detests the very sight of it and won't go near it while the father gradually forms a bond of grudging mutual respect.
But there seems to be something else going on, the ghost of their dead relative appears to haunt them, manifesting in ghostly visits and a seemingly possessing like effect on the young child.
In the end one feels quite a strong sympathy for the bird that has really done nothing wrong, only acting according to its nature and could never be properly domesticated. By the end there is no clear source of villainy or evil yet horrific and evil things happen nonetheless.
A clever, well told gripping story that is also grim and often deeply unsettling. An impressive début novel and I'll definitely read more of this author's work.
