Smelling of Rooks

From the author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin comes a candid and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.

A celebration of single fatherhood in the Norfolk countryside, following nine years of restoring a house, raising children, and caring for birds amidst the ups and downs of love.

The People’s Book Prize 2027 Finalist

From the author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin comes a candid, comic and irresistibly companionable portrait of a writer’s life in rural Norfolk.

Drawn from Louis de Bernières’s hugely popular Facebook posts written between 2015 and 2024, Smelling of Rooks gathers a decade of reflections, anecdotes and observations on everything from music, cats and motorcycles to politics, parenting and the perils of social media. It is a book about the texture of ordinary days, told with the warmth, eccentricity and mischief that have made de Bernières one of Britain’s most beloved storytellers.

Set against the rolling fields and modest peaks of what he calls the ‘Norfolk Alps’, this accidental memoir captures a writer at ease with his life, his readers and his absurdities. There are riffs on the pleasures of cooking and DIY, portraits of friends and neighbours, the escapades of his children, and the unpredictable joys of country living.

At once funny, tender and defiantly unfiltered, Smelling of Rooks shows Louis de Bernières as he really is – reflective, unpretentious and gloriously human. A celebration of family, friendship and the small wonders of daily life, it is a book to dip into, laugh with, and treasure.