Witless Bay, Newfoundland is home to thousands of birds, including North America’s largest Atlantic puffin colony. In The Bird Artist, it’s also home to Fabian Vas, antihero of this tale set in a remote fishing village in the early years of the 20th century. We learn two vital details about Fabian in the first few sentences: one, that he is a bird artist, and two, he killed Botho August, the lighthouse keeper. What follows is a story to rival any Southern Gothic novel.

Fabian lives with his parents, and spends his time between observing the local birds and drawing, and carrying on an unconventional romance with Margaret, the free-spirited and troubled daughter of the village’s mailboat captain. A cast of eccentric characters accentuates this story of betrayal, murder, love lost, and found. Fabian’s deadpan retelling of his tragicomic life is so engaging – as well as including one of the most likeable bad girls I’ve encountered in fiction – that I think this may stand up to be one of my favorite books of 2008.

On one of my trips to Newfoundland in the late 90s, I visited Witless Bay (thanks to a boyfriend at the time who called it home) and went on a boat tour of the bay to observe the bay’s birds. It’s truly a wondrous sight. I have photos, but they don’t do it justice. Suffice it to say, that if you ever travel to this part of the world, be sure to make Witless Bay a stop on your journey.

With its Canadian setting, an animal in its title, and having won the NEBA Prize in Fiction in 1994 and also a Finalist for the National Book Award in 1994, The Bird Artist is a triple threat, counting for the Canadian Book Challenge, the What’s in a Name Challenge, and the Book Awards Challenge.