Blog Tour: The Feathered Book

Written *by Charlie Nutbrown*
Cover Design & illustration by Holly Ovenden
Internal illustrations by Ewa Beniak-Haremska
*Published by Everything with Words*

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for The Feathered Book. Today, I’m sharing a post from the author, Charlie Nutbrown, about the friendship between Monty the Fox and best friend Nettle the Rabbit.

MONTY AND NETTLE: A COMPLICATED FRIENDSHIP

The relationship between Monty the Fox and his best friend, Nettle the Rabbit, is central to my middle grade novel, The Feathered Book: a locked-room mystery set on a world known as the Lake. Monty, as the detective, is supposedly the protagonist. But just as Sherlock Holmes is lost without his Dr Watson, so Monty wouldn’t survive a day without his more worldly friend – and nor would the story. For as much as it is a mystery novel, as much as it is an adventure story, the book is also a study of this crimefighting duo’s loving yet complicated friendship.

When a cursed work of alchemy goes missing from a labyrinthine library beneath an oak tree, Monty decides on a new career as a detective. Inspired by his love of detective fiction, he is ready to throw himself into the role with gusto – and assumes that Nettle will come along for the ride. The problem is, Nettle has seen this all before. Time and again, Monty has found a new dream, which briefly consumes him. But, as quickly as these passions flare up, they are put aside and forgotten. For Monty, an easily distracted dilettante, always gives up the moment his hobby becomes difficult or boring.

In contrast to the childish and big-headed Monty, Nettle is sarcastic, irritable, and down- to-earth. She has no interest in adventure – she would much rather be enjoying a nice cup of tea in her cosy burrow. So, Monty is a dreamer, Nettle is sensible. He is changeable, she hates change. He gets carried away, she keeps her feet firmly on the ground.

Unsurprisingly then, when Monty drags an unwilling Nettle off on his investigation there are plenty of quarrels and squabbles. Monty, self-absorbed and cocky, is exasperating company, driving poor Nettle out of her wits. However, beneath the bickering, beneath the teasing and the name calling, there is warmth and love. For Nettle, despite her eyerolling and muttering, is fiercely loyal to her friend. She has the fox’s back even when he is dragging her into pirate ambushes and booby traps, book mazes and stinking swamps – in fact, she has his back especially when he is doing those things. And Monty, though he has an odd way of showing it, loves Nettle deeply, trusting her with his life. There is hopefully a touching, even inspiring, quality to their friendship.

Indeed, I’d like to think that there is something inspiring in the story in general – in Monty’s unembarrassed pursuit of his dreams, his refusal to get deflated, his childlike enthusiasm. For while the book has no message, I do think that curiosity is wonderful; that ambitions are essential; and above all, that if you throw yourself at a project with enough passion, enough determination, then your preposterous dream might just come true – just as mine did, with the publication of The Feathered Book.