"In Ornithology, Jeannie Wallace McKeown takes the reader into the heart of loss and grief, exploring the minutiae of everyday life afterwards – arranging cremations and birthdays, packing up clothes and buying groceries. In the Covid-19 pandemic, her tears salt her early morning tea; her dogs, trapped inside with her during lockdown, take their walks in their sleep while she grieves. Her writing is clear-eyed and direct, with no resort to sentimentality or cliche.