Available Formats
Hardback, Main - Indie & Website Exclusive
Published: 2nd September 2025
Paperback, Main - Re-issue
Published: 28th September 2016
Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
By (Author) Max Porter
Faber & Faber
Faber & Faber
28th September 2016
25th August 2016
Main - Re-issue
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.92
Winner of Dylan Thomas Prize 2016
Paperback
128
Width 129mm, Height 198mm, Spine 7mm
115g
In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness. In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss gives way to memories, the little unit of three starts to heal.
In this extraordinary debut - part novella, part polyphonic fable, part essay on grief - Max Porter's compassion and bravura style combine to dazzling effect. Full of unexpected humour and profound emotional truth, Grief is the Thing with Feathers marks the arrival of a thrilling new talent.
Max Porter works in publishing. He lives in South London with his wife and children. Grief is the Thing with Feathers is his first book.