The Plume Hunter

The Plume Hunter by Renée Thompson

Buy The Plume Hunter at: | IndieBound |

“What is it, specifically, that motivates hunters: is it hunting that fuels their souls, or the actual killing? This is a question I’ve struggled with, and which I’ve tried to answer in Plume.” — Renée Thompson

In 1885, more than five million birds were killed for the millinery trade in the United States. The Plume Hunter follows the life of young Fin McFaddin, an Oregon outdoorsman who takes to plume hunting to support his widowed mother. Vast loss of bird populations at the turn of the century prompted the creation of the nation’s first wildlife refuges in Florida and Oregon, and gave rise to the Audubon Society. This story predates their creation—a tale of one plumer who experiences a tragically late change of heart.

The Plume Hunter has won the Eric Hoffer da Vinci Eye award for superior cover art. Congratulations to Jeffrey Fuller, our book designer and Greg Downing, photographer.

Renée Thompson’s first novel, The Bridge at Valentine, received high praise from Booklist and a “very original and very appealing” endorsement from Larry McMurtry. Her short stories have appeared in Narrative Magazine and Chiron Review, and placed in Glimmer Train and Writer’s Digest competitions. She lives and writes in Northern California.  See Renee’s website at www.reneethompson.com.

Reviews:

The Sacramento Bee, Allen Pierleoni
10,000 Birds, James Currie
Sacramento News and Review, Kel Munger

Advanced praise for The Plume Hunter:

From David Sibley, author of The Sibley Guide to Birds:

I really enjoyed this book. It offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of a bird hunter and the complex social, economic and personal issues swirling around the birth of the conservation movement.

From Bill Thompson, III, Editor, Bird Watcher’s Digest:

The Plume Hunter offers a compelling look into a time when the American public had a change of heart regarding the intrinsic value of our native bird life.  The over-hunting of birds for meat and for decorative uses as fashion accessories nearly doomed dozens of species to extinction.  In fact a few species did become extinct.  Author Renée Thompson’s gripping novel transports the reader to a time when our nation was trying its best to grow up, yet seemed mired in its own awkward “teen” years.  Indeed the book’s central character plume hunter Fin McFaddin could be an allegory for how the United States came to embrace the modern bird conservation movement, and specifically how this movement took root out West.  I read this book in one sitting – finding it no easier to put down than Fin did his hunting guns.  The Plume Hunter shines a bright light on an important, and often overlooked, part of our nation’s natural history.

From Fr. Tom Pincelli, Former Chairman, American Birding Association:

The Plume Hunter is an interesting conceptualization of a time long past and of its transition toward present day thought.  Renée Thompson brings us to a place of semi-darkness, with its confused emotions, and allows us to witness the “Hunter” changing from within.  This is a story of process and a quest to redeem.  I did love it.

From Tim Gallagher, author of The Grail Bird

Renée Thompson’s novel The Plume Hunter paints a vivid portrait of the bad old days of the feather trade, when market gunners slaughtered stately wading birds by the tens of thousands to decorate women’s hats.  A compelling chronicle of avarice, betrayal, and redemption.