Birdseye - by Maire Fisher (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

As children growing up at Marchbanks, an imposing mansion built high on a hill above a Cape seaside town, Bird and her five siblings love to hear the story of how their father wooed their mother, but they don't know much about the past of their reclusive grandmother, Ma Bess, who rules Marchbanks from its shadows and keeps her stories firmly locked in her cold heart.

When Bird's ten-year-old twin brothers Oliver and Oscar go missing after a day of fishing, Bird appoints herself the family scribe and begins writing to the brothers she refuses to believe are gone for good. The elderly Ma Bess may be the voice in command at Marchbanks, but Bird, the youngest in the family, becomes its all-seeing eye. If Bird learns the truth, though, can life at Marchbanks ever be the same?

Review Quotes

"I am madly in love with this book. Máire Fisher has created a character so wounded, funny and lyrical you will not desert her till you've read every page." -- Rahla Xenopoulos, author of A Memoir of Love and Madness

"As we journey from caverns of darkness and pain to faint glimmers of hope and tremendous courage, from a girl's quest to remember her brothers and to guard against oblivion to our own ever-pressing need to tell our own stories and find a place to call home, we are reminded of the need to search for truth, no matter how trying the quest." -- Jonathan Amid, Cape Times

"Poetic, beautiful, intriguing and thoroughly unputdownable." -- Musings of a South African Bookworm

"In retrospect, I'll remember Birdseye for its excellent and complex characterization, especially of Bird, the well-researched and haunting resolution of a sad, senseless crime, the familiar 'South Africanisms' that brought life and immediacy to the plot and the proud realisation that a little-known author surprised and delighted me with a truly amazing read." -- H.C. Maree

"Birdseye by Maire Fisher showed a deft storyteller's touch in bringing a family saga, mystery and coming of age story to life in an evocative South African setting." -- Anthony Ehlers, Writers Write

"What makes this novel so delightful is, not only is it set in Cape Town, but it has a wonderfully authentic young narrator who brings a freshness to the prose." -- The Book Addict

"The narrator is a delightful child called Bird, who is dealt a devastating blow when her idolized twin brothers vanish when she is still very young. She copes with the trauma by writing to the boys in her diary, a habit she keeps up as she matures - a clever author's trick to track the protagonist's changing state of mind." -- Carol Campbell, Natal Mercury

About the Author

Máire Fisher is a writer, writing mentor and editor. Birdseye, originally published in South Africa by Penguin Random House, is now being released in North America. Her second, The Enumerations, was published by Catalyst in 2025. Máire's work has been published in several anthologies including Incredible Journey, Just Keep Breathing: South African Birth Stories; Twist: Short Stories Inspired by Tabloid Headlines, Women Flashingand Writing the Self. She was born in Zambia, educated in Zimbabwe, and currently resides in South Africa, where she runs several renowned writing workshops.