The Flight of the Osprey

Vividly detailed description and a plot that neatly mixes human and animal affairs mark British nature author Clarkson's first novel since Ice Trek (1984). Set amidst the natural beauty and changing seasons of modern Devon and the Scottish highlands, the narrative presents the life, habits and return to the U.K. of the osprey after a century away through the story of Iasgair, a young male of the species. Young and attractive Nicola Frayle, recently widowed, finds Iasgair entangled in some nylon netting and takes him home. With the help of Paul, a local farmer, Nicola tends to the bird, feeding him with frozen fish. Paul and his wife, matchmaking on their minds, then introduce Nicola to Martin Collier, a maimed vet who owns a trout fishery. When Iasgair begins fishing Collier's ponds, a romance slowly develops between the two. But on a highlands trip to free the bird, the lovers stumble into an ideological rift that threatens to separate them forever. Clarkson alternates animal and human point of view, and, though the animal-oriented passages are the more convincing, the story coheres throughout, offering a gently presented lesson: that while humanity may be the world's foremost predator, our aggression is no less natural than that of a panther-or an osprey. (Feb.)