BOOK REVIEW: LYREBIRD by Cecilia Ahern

Shane | 4 June 2017 | Reply

BOOK REVIEW: LYREBIRD by Cecilia Ahern
Harper Collins – fiction, paperback, rrp$32.99
November 2016
Reviewed by Trulie Pinnegar
7/10

Cecilia Ahern’s latest is a thoughtful and cleverly plotted delving into the world of reality television, the invasive interest of fatuous media, and the question of whether solitude is a preferable alternative to fame.

Ahern – who wrote the smash hit P.S. I Love You aged just 21 – has a long list of best sellers to her name, and here she has crafted an interesting tale of a young woman – Laura – living alone in the wilderness, with the unique ability to be able to mimic other creatures. Hence the nickname (and book title) Lyrebird.

Along comes documentary maker Bo and her soundman/boyfriend Soloman, who see Laura’s unusual talent and offer her a way out of her lonely life – but at what cost? As the book blurb asks: “will it trap her in a gilded cage? Like all wild birds, she needs to fly free.”

Ahern piques the imagination with Laura’s tale, but this book fails to grab as closely as her previous ones. Ahern completists will plod on, even though this novel may not grip them as much as her previous works