I waited so long to write my thoughts about this book. This is a novel that  will make you think about it for a while, after you close the last page.

Short take: The Language of Birds is based on a notorious real-life murder case; also known as Lord Lucan affair. It’s poetic and heartbreaking; but also has a good pace and overall is an enjoyable read.
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Mandy Rivers is hired as a nanny; she had been through a lot and looking for a fresh start in the rich household. But she won’t wait long to discover that Lady Morven and her husband has an incredibly distressing and dysfunctional relationship. She finds herself sucked into the family’s turmoil. There’s also Rosemary, Mandy’s friends watching the whole thing closely.

What I loved: The writing style and the prose. In this violent and famous case, no one seems to give any importance to the real victim. All the news articles published about this case are focusing on the Lady and Lord. I think Dawson builds a realistic and brilliant atmosphere from the nanny’s perspective, telling a story so well known but was never told. The characters and scenes were really artistic, I loved especially the portrayal of Lady Morven.
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What I didn’t love: The start. It was slow. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was beautiful- but I didn’t understand what was going on for a while and gave up and read the Lucan affair- so I ended up learning what happens in the end, which kind of killed some of the joy(yes I come from another planet and never heard about Lucan case)
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I would recommend this if you like well written, poetic, melancholic stories – it doesn’t make you cry, that’s one of the best things about it.
Thanks to Sceptre books for this copy.